Choices
by silverwrym
Summary: The team is working on a local case when the unsub contacts Reid and forces him to make a choice. Rated T for now.
1. Unease

**Disclaimer: I do not own or make a profit off of Criminal Minds.**

**Hi all! I just wanted to let you know that this chapter is really all about the set up of the story. The title of the story won't make sense until the next chapter. Enjoy.**

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It started out like a typical day. Reid had gotten into the office early in order to get a head start on paperwork. He sat at his desk with his chin propped up on his right knee while his left leg was twisted beneath him in the chair. It was amazing how he could fit his long and lanky legs into yoga like positions, especially when restricted to something as small as an office chair.

Abruptly, he pushed off of his desk in order to twirl around in his chair to get a good look at the bullpen. A couple of hours had passed since he had gotten in and he was curious to see which of his coworkers still had yet to arrive. He could see the light on in Hotch's office, Dave's door was open, but Morgan's office still looked dark. Across from him was Alex's desk, which had been occupied for over an hour. She looked up from her work and gave him a smile.

"Morning!" he said.

"Good morning. I would have said something when I came in but you looked like you were in the zone," she explained.

"Yeah, that's why I love coming in early. I can really get a lot done when there's no one here to distract me."

"Well, it looks like you are already half done with your files. I'm kind of jealous, Dr. Reid," she quipped.

"If you're nice, maybe your pile will be a bit lighter later," he said with a smile.

"In that case, would you like me to refill your coffee?"

"Naturally," he replied as Blake got up to go refill both of their coffees.

With a sigh he turned his chair toward the elevator, mentally betting himself on who would walk in next, JJ or Morgan. He figured it would be JJ because Morgan overslept at least once a week. Looking at the clock it was coming close to the team's scheduled arrival time, and with a ding the elevator doors opened. Reid redirected his attention to see who had arrived. Much to his chagrin both JJ and Morgan barreled out of the doors and walking in right on time.

"Morning, you two!" Reid said cheerfully.

"Awww, come on man. It's too early for you to be this chipper," Morgan groaned.

"It's already eight a.m.," Reid said incredulously.

"Yeah, well some of us like to sleep past sunup because we go to bed way past sundown," Morgan retorted with a sly smile.

"And some of us have children," JJ said as she walked past Reid and up to her office.

Reid smiled as he watched his two best friends get settled for the day and decided to get back to work. He was able to work another two hours without interruption. In fact, he had only about three more of his own files to go, and then he planned on lightening Blake's load. He pulled his eyes away from the file and glanced at his coworker. She was intently focused on her computer screen and did not meet his gaze. He was about to break her concentration when a strange feeling tingled down his spine. Whatever it was made the hairs on his arm stand at attention. He didn't like this feeling; it was like he was being watched.

As inconspicuously as he could Reid slowly turned his chair to look out over the workroom. His eyes roamed over each face and couldn't find one that was in any way hostile. In fact, no one was even looking his way. Of course throughout his reconnaissance he saw quite a few agents that he didn't know on this floor, since the BAU wasn't the only division that shared the space. But, he had seen all these faces before; it was just that he had never bothered to get to know them personally. That was way too scary for an antisocial individual such as himself.

Deciding that he was just being paranoid Reid grabbed his and Blake's coffee mugs and set off on a mission to refill them. Much to his disappointment there was no coffee in the pot. Some idiot had left the empty pot on the burner to overheat and turn the last drops of coffee moisture at the bottom into a syrupy mess.

Grabbing the fresh grounds from out of the cabinet Reid set to working making a new pot. "Seriously," Reid exclaimed aloud. "How hard is it to make a fresh pot of coffee? Why does it seem like I'm always refilling this thing?" he said more to himself than anyone who might be within earshot.

"Well, I bet it's because you drink more coffee than anyone else on the floor," said an agent that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Reid jumped in surprise at the response. He wasn't expecting anyone to hear him and was shocked that this stranger knew about his coffee obsession.

The man laughed at the confused look that Reid gave him. "It's no secret on this floor. We all know the Bureau is going bankrupt keeping you caffeinated every day," the agent with the dark green eyes joked. "Hey Lou, you know who this guy is don't you?" He yelled to a fellow agent that was sitting at a desk nearby.

"Yeah, it's Dr. Coffee. Oops, I mean Reid," Lou responded with a playful smile.

"See, told you. You're famous around here," Sam said triumphantly.

"Uh…well...it seems you know who I am, but I don't think I have ever had the chance to formally meet you," Reid said clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"Ahh, sorry. Let's rectify that shall we? I'm Agent Sam Cruz, counterterrorism," he said stretching out his right hand.

Reid just waved at the man and responded, "Nice to meet you."

Noticing that the conversation was at an end, Sam reached around Reid and lifted the coffee pot off the burner and held his mug underneath to catch some of the new brew that Reid had started.

"Thanks for making a new pot. See you around," he said as he sauntered off to his desk.

Reid kept an eye on Sam as he walked back to his seat. It was amazing that he could work here for so long and still meet new people every day. After shaking himself out of his thoughts he took a cue from Agent Cruz, and decided to hold the two mugs he had under the stream of steaming coffee.

By the time he got back to his desk he noticed that Blake wasn't there anymore. He looked up to the round-table room and saw a peek of blue coming through the blinds. There must be a case. Slightly confused as to why no one sought him out to tell him, Reid made his way up the steps to join his colleagues.

"There you are boy genius," stated Garcia joyfully. "We were just about to get started."

"I noticed. Why didn't anyone come to find me?"

"I knew you were getting coffee and decided you would figure it out when you got back to your desk," Blake said nonchalantly as she took the proffered coffee mug and nodded her thanks, while Reid took a seat between JJ and Morgan.

They all steadied their gazes at Garcia and waited for her to start the briefing.

"Alright crime-fighters, we got a local one," Garcia said as she launched the case.

It turned out that there had been two local FBI agents murdered within the past week. Both of the men had worked on separate floors and in different divisions than each other. There were no other details to tie the men together besides their occupation of choice and the fact that they were both single.

"Why are we just hearing about these agents' deaths now?" questioned Rossi disbelievingly.

"Well, at first it looked like each man had committed suicide. There was no suspicion of murder until the autopsy results came back from the first death. The local police got suspicious when the ME reported there were marks on the body that the local police didn't take seriously."

"How could the local police dismiss something like that?" asked Morgan.

"Well, victim number one, Howard Giraurd, was thought to have hung himself from a beam in his house. The locals didn't think anything of it. It was his sister, who found his body by the way, that insisted he wasn't suicidal and she wanted his body autopsied. Upon her request they sent his body to the ME and had it analyzed. The ME found obvious signs of restraints in the form of ligature marks on his ankles and wrists. In addition, there was a large bruise on his skull, suggesting that he had been knocked out at some point," Garcia clarified.

"Okay, what about the other victim?" Hotch asked as he shifted his eyes to the electronic version of the case and flipped through the photos that had been uploaded onto the IPad.

"Well, Clarence Paynes was also found in his house with slit wrists. Again, the local law enforcement assumed suicide and left it at that. It was his unit chief that insisted that something was wrong. Upon further investigation they found the same signs on his body as Giraurd's," she said all the while clicking through pictures for everyone to analyze on the big screen.

"Well, this clearly seems like an attack on the Bureau itself. Two agents murdered within the past week. Both made to look like suicides. Someone is trying to cover something up," Rossi commented.

Listening intently throughout the meeting Reid kept getting a disturbing feeling in the bottom of his stomach. He didn't like the fact that local agents were being targeted. What if one of his friends was on this list? They needed to move on this quickly to prevent another agent coming to harm. Chewing on his lip Reid looked around to see the reactions of his fellow agents. They all seemed disturbed by the patterns that Garcia pointed out and were looking to Hotch to figure out their next steps.

"Okay," Hotch began. "Blake and Reid you two stay here. I need you to work on the geographic profile and work with Garcia to gather as much information as you can about the victims' histories. Morgan and Rossi you two check out the crime scenes to see if the locals missed anything else. That leaves JJ and me to interview the families and friends of the deceased agents. I don't have to tell you how high profile this case could become, so let's try to solve it quickly," Hotch said as he got up to leave with JJ.

Reid walked back to his desk to grab his things; it looked like he would be stuck in the round table room for the rest of the day. While he was bent over to retrieve something from his satchel he felt the same uneasy feeling he experienced earlier. He straightened his body and turned around trying to see what was triggering this uncomfortable sensation.

Nothing.

He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. All the agents in the office were working or goofing off with their teammates. The offices were lit up and no one was standing in the windows watching. The break room was empty and there was half a pot of coffee stewing on the maker. Everything was as normal and nothing was out of place.

"Get a grip," Reid muttered to himself and shrugged off the feeling, chalking it up to the fact that their current case was hitting a bit too close to home.


	2. Time to Choose

**Disclaimer:**** Same as always...I don't own this stuff.**

**Thanks to everyone who added my new story. I am glad you like it so far. Special thanks to Annber03 for the awesome review, I am glad you are hooked. Enjoy.**

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Stumbling into his doorway at about midnight, Reid thought back on his decision to go into work at six a.m. with regret. It had been a very long day, and not much headway was made. Reid wasn't able to narrow down a very good geographic profile since all they had to go on was the addresses of the victims' houses. Interviewing the families and friends of the victims didn't provide any new information and the crime scenes were unhelpful to say the least.

Reid threw his keys down on the table as he walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He was exhausted and nearing his limit. He wanted to shower before heading off to bed, so he swiftly made his way out of the kitchen and to the bathroom. He was quick to turn the water on because it always took so long for the hot water to warm up in his shower. He shed his clothes and stood by the shower sticking his hand in and out to test the temperature. As soon as the desired heat was reached he wasted no time submerging his body underneath the pellets of water. It felt amazing after such a grueling day. He took the time to just stand there and let it wash down over his body. He could actually feel the sweat and dirt sluicing off of him and down the drain.

After a glorious fifteen minutes Reid ended his shower. He got out and wrapped a towel around his waist and proceeded to finish his bedtime routine. Using another towel he dried his hair and then combed the tangles out of his locks. He moved on to brushing his teeth with his extra whitening paste and then he gargled with some off-brand mouthwash. Finally, he took off his towel and exchanged it for his typical set pajamas, blue plaid flannel pants and a matching long-sleeve button-down shirt. He left the nightlight on in the bathroom, but shut the door so that only a peak of light would illuminate his bedroom from the crack under the underneath. It wasn't much, but Reid had been trying to wean himself off of the need for so much light throughout the night.

Reid heaved a sigh of contentment as his head hit the pillow. He knew that he needed to take advantage of any time he had to sleep, because he never knew when a call might come in summoning him back to work. He snuggled down into the soft sheets and pulled the comforter up to his neck. He had turned the ceiling fan on to make sure the outside air was cold, and under the covers it was toasty warm. He let his thoughts wander to the case, but it wasn't long before his consciousness slipped away.

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Never one to be a deep sleeper Reid was immediately awakened when a hand clamped down over his mouth. His eyes flew open in a panic trying to figure out who was clutching his face in their iron grip. His hands immediately shot up to try dislodge the hand covering his lips. Unfortunately, whoever it was had swiftly maneuvered their body behind Reid's on the bed, and pulled Reid up against their chest. It was moments later that Reid felt a gun positioned against his left temple, and thoughts of continuing his struggle against this stranger went out the window.

"Ah ah ah, Dr. Reid. Don't get any ideas into your head. Just sit there and listen like a good boy," a vaguely familiar voice taunted from in front of him.

Wait…there were two people in his bedroom. Reid's eyes, which had adjusted to the darkness of his bedroom sought out the voice that seemed to mock him. His gaze locked on a tall white male, semi-hidden in the shadows of the room.

"Lou, you can remove your hand from his mouth, but don't let your guard down. Dr. Reid is feistier than he lets on…," the voice that could only belong to Sam Cruz, ordered his friend.

Reid felt the pressure on his face disappear and he stretched out his jaw. It was definitely going to bruise where Lou gripped him. "What do you want?" Reid nervously questioned the agent before him.

"Answers, that always what you want isn't it? You live your life seeking to solve any problem put before you. Well, Dr. Reid I think I am finally going to put you into a situation where there is no solution to your problem. At least, there won't be a solution that will be in your favor," Agent Cruz said cryptically. Shifting his gaze away from Reid, Sam said to Lou, "Hold him steady while I restrain him."

The gun that Lou was holding pressed deeper into his skull, sure to leave another mark on Reid once this was all over. Not daring to move for fear of Lou following through with the threat of the gun, Reid passively allowed Sam to secure his wrists to the headboard with two sets of handcuffs. Once Reid was fastened to the bed, Lou was able to remove himself from behind Reid and he joined his friend standing at the foot of the bed. Reid tested the strength of the cuffs with a few jerks of his arms. They were unyielding, which wasn't a surprise since they were FBI issued restraints. Reid lifted his eyes to the two men in front of him and waited for them to explain their purpose.

"I see the questions in your eyes. It's really quite simple…you're going to help us accomplish our goal," Sam began.

"And why would I do that?" Reid questioned quietly. He was trying to keep his tone low and submissive in order to make the agents let their guard down. It wasn't like he would be able to escape from the handcuffs, but his two captors might let something slip that would help him with their profiles.

Lou gave off a chortle and said, "You're not going to have much of a choice in the matter, Dr. Reid. We know all about you and your family. If you refuse to comply we'll kill you, and then mess around with the lives of your loved ones. Like, we could make sure your mother ends up at a state run facility by draining the bank account you set up for her to pay for all her expenses. Or perhaps we can make sure that your godson ends up in some sort of child trafficking ring, disappearing without a trace. See…it really is in your best interest to hear us out."

"Leave them out of this," Reid said with some vehemence as he struggled against his bonds in anger. It was one thing to mess with him, but when Lou started to threaten his family he couldn't keep up his meek façade.

"Calm down, Dr. Reid. We haven't done anything yet, and as long as you do your part none of them will be harmed. So, let's get down to business. We need you to fix the case your team is currently investigating. We are giving you the task of sabotaging the profile and as a result pointing your team in the wrong direction. If you are successful and the man we tell you to frame is arrested then none of your family will come to harm," Sam spelled out.

"That's impossible. They're some of the best profilers in the world. How could you even think I could steer them in the wrong direction?" Reid questioned with disbelief.

"Ahhh, you are underestimating yourself, Dr. Reid. We all know that if you put your amazing mind to it anything is possible. You might have to plant some evidence or fake a few leads, but you'll figure out a way," responded Sam.

"Why?" a simple question that Reid really needed to know the answer to.

"Nah uh...you don't get to know our motives yet, just your role in this whole thing," Lou was quick to respond.

"Relax Lou," Sam chided. "I bet the dear doctor will figure it all out by the end anyways. So…," Sam redirected his concentration back to Reid, "You're going to need to get started right when you get to work in the morning. Another body will be found by tomorrow and your going to have to start the redirection ASAP."

"Did you kill the other agents?" Reid asked, and in his mind he was wondering if they were going to kill him too.

"Yes. They got in the way of our goal and had to be eliminated. That's what got us into all this mess, and why we need you to help us get out of it. Look, I know that you have standards and morals, but soon enough you're going to realize that they don't matter. You will help us, like it or not," Lou answered.

"My dear doctor, I know what you're thinking. I can see it in your eyes. You are wondering if we're going to kill you too. Well, the answer is yes, eventually. Once you have worn out your purpose we will dispose of you too," Sam said in a calm and quiet voice as he watched Reid react to his words by closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.

"H….how are you…how are you going…" Reid shook his head in frustration as he struggled to get his question to pass through his lips.

"How are we going to kill you? Well, that's where this comes in," Sam said as he reached for the item that Lou was in the process of handing to him. "It's a bomb vest. This is our insurance that you are going to do everything we tell you to do. You will be wearing this underneath your clothes twenty-four seven until this all blows over. Get it? Blows," Sam chuckled and looked to Reid for a reaction. Not getting one he continued, "Anyways, Lou here used to work a bomb unit back when he was on the force. He came up with this beauty. It's super thin and will be barely distinguishable beneath all the layers you wear. Someone would have to be really up in your business to find it. It's wired with a microphone so we can hear anything you say to your team, and one of us will always be listening. And, just in case you get any funny ideas like writing a note or typing a letter we have this cool tie tack that doubles as a camera. So whichever one of us is listening in on your conversations will be watching you too."

It was beginning to dawn on Reid how well these men thought the whole thing out. There would be no way to secretly write a note without them seeing something. It was bad enough that they would be watching and listening to every move he made, but they would be able to see everything the team was doing. The team would be giving away all of their information whenever they spoke around Reid. Reid gnashed his teeth when he realized that he wouldn't be able to hide any leads from these men or give them a false sense of security. He was so screwed!

"What if my team starts to get suspicious?" Reid asked. Regardless of what these two thought, the profilers that he worked with were going to be extremely hard to mislead.

"I haven't even gotten to the best part," Sam said with childish glee. "We'll blow it up, killing you and any of your coworkers around you. So, the vest will definitely serve as your motivation to be convincing. Oh, yeah…if at any time we think you are double-crossing us…boom," Sam made an explosive gesture with his hands. "Your reward, if you are successful with your mission will be to choose the location of your death. Wherever you want, we'll take you and set off the vest. So if you are longing to see Gideon's cabin one last time than so be it," Sam said with a knowing smile. "Then before we leave you, we'll plant evidence that will point your death toward the man you are going to help us frame. Your team will be so distraught over your death they will do everything in their power to ensure he rots in prison. Everything will be wrapped up in a nice little package. Lou and I will get away with it and no one will be the wiser."

Reid looked down at his lap, not being able to meet Sam's eyes any longer. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. What was he going to do? He couldn't possibly sabotage an investigation, but than if he didn't these men were going to harm his family and kill him. If he did help them he was dead anyways and two criminals would be getting away with a heinous crime. He was well and truly fucked.

Just then Reid's phone started to ring. He swiveled his head around to look the nightstand beside his bed. He saw the face of the phone light up brightly with the word "Hotcher." Reid felt a surge of hope go through his body. If he didn't answer the phone would Hotch know something was up and send someone to check on him? Reid looked at his captors to see how they responded to this unexpected twist. Sam was smiling as he reached for the phone and said, "Well Dr. Reid…have you made your choice? Are you going to help us or not?"


	3. The Rules

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my OCs.**

**A special thanks to ****Annber03 and AlexReidxo for your spectacular reviews.**

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Reid heard Sam's voice in his head asking him if he had made his choice. He glanced longingly at the phone and wished the decision he was about to make was easier. In the end, he knew the right choice was to go along with these guys for now, and hopefully buy enough time to figure a way out of this situation. Looking Sam in the eye he nodded his head in an affirmation that he would help.

"Use your words, Dr. Reid. I want to hear you say it," Sam demanded.

"Ye..yes. I will help you," Reid said as his stomach crawled at the implication of what he had just done.

Sam quickly snatched up the old-fashioned flip phone, flicked it open, hit the speakerphone button and put it up to Reid's face.

"He….hello?" Reid said into the phone with a crack in his voice.

"Reid? Sorry to wake you, but another body was just called in. I am recalling everyone back to headquarters so we can analyze the new information. How fast can you get down here?" Hotch asked.

Reid looked up at his captor for guidance in how to answer this question. Sam held up a finger and mouthed "one hour" to him. Reid nodded his head in understanding and said, "It's going to take me about an hour, sir."

"See if you can make it faster. Oh and Reid, we haven't informed Garcia about this yet, but the victim was Kevin," Hotch said in a perfectly controlled voice.

Reid almost choked out a sob in response to this revelation. These men who were holding him captive had killed a man that he knew and respected. He was the former love of one of his co-workers and a genuine all-round nice guy. Reid felt a tear trickle down his cheek in a form of mourning over the bureau's loss. He pulled at his bonds again in frustration hoping to jostle something loose, knowing that his attempt was futile.

"What was that noise?" Hotch asked when he heard the clinking of metal in the background. "Reid, what's going on over there?"

"Noth…nothing Hotch. It's just that my ceiling fan needs to be oiled, it clinks all night long," Reid made up on the fly after he saw Sam give him an angry look for making the noise.

"Uh huh…," Hotch replied disbelievingly. "Well, like I said try to make it quicker than an hour, I want us all there when we break the news to Garcia. She is going to need all of our support and strength to get through this."

Reid nodded, but then realized that Hotch couldn't see him through the phone. "I'll try Hotch. Bye," Reid responded in a small whisper.

Sam snapped the phone shut and gave Reid a grin that reached to his eyes.

"So the boss man told you who we offed before we got here? I tell you what, the guy really didn't put up much of a struggle. It was pretty easy to slit his wrists and put in him the tub," Lou bragged.

"Why Kevin?" Reid asked with a bit of desperation behind his voice while a few more rogue tears made their way down his cheeks.

"He had a purpose and he served it. I already told you that once you serve yours, you will be disposed of too. It was just his time to go," Sam explained matter-of-factly. "So anyways, let's get this show on the road. We don't want you to be late and have your team start worrying about you too."

Sam held the vest out to Lou and gestured toward Reid. Reid cringed at the thought that these men were going to touch him and closed his eyes bracing for their unwanted touch. He felt Lou unbutton his nightshirt and push the shirt and sleeves down to bunch around his restrained wrists, leaving his chest exposed.

"Luckily, I designed this like those bullet proof vests that we wear at work. All I gotta do is strap it on you. What's even cooler is the sections that fasten together are controlled by sensors. Once I get this on you and input my code it activates the vest. At any time if you try to remove the vest via the straps it will know and explode. So I suggest that you just leave it alone. Think of it like a bee, if you don't bother it, than it won't bother you," Lou said with a bit of joy in his voice at being able to boast about his brilliant device. Throughout Lou's dialogue he worked on fastening the vest around Reid's torso and chest. He secured the vest as tight as he could; he pulled the straps to their straining point and then buckled them in place. He had replaced the traditional Velcro with buckles to make it easier to tell when someone was attempting to take the vest off. With his last few words Lou had inputted the code into a panel on the back of the vest and Reid could feel it hum to life.

"Get used to the feeling against your skin. It's going to be the last thing you ever feel wrapped around your torso," Lou said with a smirk.

"Nice work Lou. He looks ready to hear the rules," Sam stated. "Pay close attention, because if you break any of these rules we will kill you instantly."

"For starters," Lou began, "you will be driven to and from work by one of us. We will walk you into the building and escort you out. If for some reason your boss requires you to leave the building we will be tailing you to keep an eye on your activities. Don't forget that we will be able to hear and see everything that you're doing too."

"Next, one of us will be staying with you every night. You've got two new roommates," Sam said with a sinister smile. "We will be locking you up at night in your room and confiscating your phone and firearm."

"You are not allowed to hang out with your friends after work or go out to lunch with them. You must do you absolute hardest to stay in the office."

"And finally, if we feel your friends are getting suspicious we will give you a warning. We will give you two chances to steer them back on track and after that we will take matters into our own hands. And you know exactly what that will look like," Sam ended on a threatening note.

"So, starting today you need to start sowing seeds of doubt into the current profile that your team is creating. We want you to start planting ideas that the unsub is a single white male in his mid-50s. He is a man of power and likes to make sure everyone knows that he is in control. He has money and is able to buy help to accomplish his ultimate goal. We will feed you more information over the next few days, but this will do for now," Lou explained slowly to make sure Reid didn't miss a bit of the information.

Reid was so out of it at the moment due to the shock of losing Kevin that he could only find it in himself to nod his head. This was getting more and more real as the night progressed. He could now feel the scratchy vest irritating his skin. Even if his hands were free he couldn't scratch the material in fear of setting off the bomb prematurely. The vest felt stiff and tight, making breathing difficult. Every time he took a breath in it felt like the vest was constricting around his chest even tighter. How was he going to hide his discomfort from his fellow profilers? Zoning back into the moment Reid caught the last few words that Sam had just said, "…release you now so you can get dressed."

"Now don't get any heroic ideas when I uncuff you. We have control of the vest now and while we wouldn't detonate it while we're in the room, we do have a gun to point at you too," Lou backed up Sam as he went to release Reid.

Reid rubbed his freed wrists to regain circulation once they were released. He stayed in the same position on the bed waiting for further instructions. Lou gestured the gun toward Reid's and said, "What are you waiting for? Get ready for work. Oh, don't be shy. We are going to be getting to know each other really well over the next few days."

Reid really did not like the idea of undressing in front of these men. So, he gathered his clothes instead and made his way to the bathroom to change.

"No, no, no. You're going to do that out here. Didn't we tell you that we would be watching your every move? Come on now, it's not like you got something I haven't seen before," Lou said in a mocking tone.

Reid hesitated but shuffled back over to the right side of the bed. He sat down on the bed and stripped off his pajama bottoms and boxers with as much dignity as he could maintain. He quickly changed out his bottoms for fresh underwear and a clean pair of khaki slacks. He put on his mismatched socks hoping for once the good luck they imparted would shine through today. He then removed his nightshirt completely, having never rebuttoned it since Lou put the vest on him. He selected to put on a t-shirt, a purple button down shirt, and a navy sweater vest over the bomb. He figured the more layers the better. If someone was to put their hand on his shoulder the likelihood of them feeling the bomb would be reduced. Once he was put together he looked up and said, "I have to do my hair and brush my teeth."

"No problem, I'll keep an eye on ya from here," Sam said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Reid sighed and shuffled off to the bathroom to make himself look presentable. Taking his time he meticulously fixed his hair, all the while trying to sort out his thoughts. As of right now he did not have even a semblance of a plan worked out. He needed to get away from these guys and clear his head. He knew it wasn't going to happen, but at least at work they wouldn't be breathing down his neck.

Reid could hear a clanking sound coming from the kitchen and a few minutes later he smelt the intoxicating scent of fresh brewed coffee. By the time he got out of the bathroom Sam and Lou were sitting on his bed enjoying a cup of his specialty brew.

The two agents exchanged a look of mirth when they saw the forlorn look on their newest victims face. "Sorry, Dr. Reid. We don't have time for you to make yourself a cup. Perhaps next time," Lou teased.

"Oh yeah, we almost forgot. You didn't put on your tie yet. Here, I picked this one out from your closet," Sam held out for Reid to take. Once Reid had put the tie and placed it on the outside of his sweater vest Sam came forth and installed the tie tack with the hidden camera. "We couldn't let you go to work without looking your best," Sam declared as he tightened Reid's tie around his neck and strung the camera wires from the tack down his shirt.

Reid remained silent, staring at the men and internally seething at their audacity. Also, he couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of being trapped. It was all too much for his psyche to take at the moment, and he allowed his mind to shut down to process everything that had occurred over the last few hours.

All at once Lou stood up and grabbed Reid's upper right arm in a bruising grip and escorted him down the hallway. Sam followed the two out of the apartment and locked it up tight. They got to the government issued SUV that the agents had commandeered for their escapades and sat Reid in the back seat. Just for added security they cuffed Reid's wrist to the door handle.

Once the agents pulled into the parking lot they turned in their seat and looked straight at Reid. "Do you understand your mission?" Sam asked firmly.

Reid nodded.

All of a sudden a searing pain ripped across the left side of Reid's face. Sam had backhanded him. "Dr. Reid, I am not going to tell you again. USE. YOUR. WORDS."

"Yes, yes I know what I need to do," Reid responded, wishing he could rub his soar cheek to assuage the pain.

"You understand the consequences of failure for you and your family?"

Reid almost nodded again but he managed say, "Yes."

"Excellent. Now, once we walk through those big glass doors leading to our floor we will separate. If anyone asks tell them we are your new friends. We have been conversing in the break room for a while and eventually we started hanging out. This way when Lou or I have to approach you during the work day it won't look as suspicious," Sam explained.

"Alright, I get it."

"Good, good. Okay, one of us will be around when you and your team call it a day, so don't even think of leaving without an escort."

They got out of the SUV and Lou released Reid from the door. They walked on either side of him into the building and joined him in the elevator. When the doors dinged open on their floor Reid had to steady himself and take a deep breath. He really didn't want to be doing this. He didn't want to deceive his team, he didn't want to withhold information about the case, and he didn't want to help two criminals get away with whatever they were plotting. He knew though that his participation was no longer his choice. The only thing he had control over now was when the bomb went off, and if he had his way none of his friends will be in the vicinity.

The glass doors opened before him and Reid looked around. His friends were gathered around Blake's desk and they all glanced up at him expectantly. Lou and Sam made a beeline for their side of the office, giving him one last look that clearly said, "Don't fuck this up."

"Hey pretty-boy, what took you so long to get ready?" Morgan asked as he slapped a hand down on Reid's shoulder in a form of greeting.

Reid bristled at the contact and hoped to God that Morgan didn't feel the threat that lay underneath his clothes.


	4. Day One

**Disclaimer: I do not own the best show on television.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the story and added it to follow. I appreciate your support. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was only moments after Derek placed his hands on Reid's shoulder that it was quickly brushed off with mild aggression.

"Whoa….calm down. I didn't mean to startle you," Derek apologized.

Reid backed up a few steps to get out of his friends arm reach. "No, ah, you didn't startle me. It's just…," started to explain when he felt a jolt of electricity surge through his midsection. He let out a yelp of surprise and jumped back right into Hotch, who had recently walked up behind him.

"Are you alright Reid?" Hotch asked after gently steadying the boy.

"Um, yeah. I felt a pain in my side, but it's gone now. Sorry for bumping into you," Reid said as he looked around the bullpen over Hotch's shoulder. He spotted Lou sitting at his desk near the break room giving him knowing smile and mouthing the word "Surprise."

"No problem," He said. Then he turned to the rest of the team and said, "Now I know that we're all shaken up given the recent developments but we need to be strong for Garcia. Morgan, will you go get her from her office and bring her to the roundtable room?"

Morgan nodded in response.

"Alright everyone, let's get up there and be ready for her when she comes in," Hotch instructed.

Morgan quickly walked off to fetch his friend while the rest of the team started to trudge up the stairs to the meeting room. Everyone immediately sat down at the table leaving two open chairs next to each other for Garcia and Morgan. Reid chose to stay standing. He maneuvered himself as far away from the table as possible trying to keep as much distance as he could between his friends and the bomb. In the back of his mind he knew that the little amount of space he managed to put between him and his coworkers wasn't enough to protect them should the bomb detonate, but deep down he felt that every little bit would help.

He was gazing out the window into the bullpen when he made eye contact with Lou again. He felt a mild shock travel through him but managed to suppress a reaction. Lou's face lit up with pleasure before he got back to the paperwork he was doing at his desk. Reid could see an earpiece in Lou's right ear and knew that Lou was trying to remind him that everything he did was being monitored.

He turned away from the window and realized that Garcia and Morgan had already sat down at the table. Garcia looked a bit confused because she was usually the first one in the room getting ready for the briefings. She made eye contact with everyone, but when she reached Reid he couldn't hold her gaze for longer than a second.

Hotch cleared his throat and began the revelation, "Okay, we all know why we're here. This morning another FBI employee was found dead in his home. This time the unsub tried to make it look like the victim slit his wrists. The victim was positively identified as Kevin Lynch."

There was a pause after Hotch officially revealed that Kevin was the victim. The silence seemed to stretch for hours but in reality it was only a matter of seconds before a wailing sound pierced the air. Garcia started sobbing uncontrollably and thrust herself into the comforting arms of Morgan. He wrapped her in his strong arms and gently rubbed her back with his hand. He whispered comforting murmurs in her hair while she cried. The rest of the team got out of their seats and surrounded the pair. Everyone tried to show their support through comforting words or a gentle touch, but nothing could soothe the distraught blonde.

The whole time Spencer kept his distance watching one of his best friends cope with such a sorrowful surprise. He longed to go over and lend Garcia his strength but couldn't bring himself to shuffle his feet to her side. Sam and Lou had made him into a hidden danger that put all of his friends' lives into jeopardy. Morgan caught his eye and gestured him over, but Reid shook his head. The look that Morgan gave Reid at his response was unnerving and cold; it clearly said, "What the hell is the matter with you? Our baby-girl needs you."

"JJ, why don't you take Garcia down to her office and help her get comfortable," Hotch instructed. As the two ladies ambled off Hotch turned to the others to get back to business. "I know that the death of Kevin is eventually going to hit all of us hard, but for now we need to suppress our feelings and focus on finding his killer. With Garcia out of it for a little while we are going to need to get another technical analyst to assists us. Blake, go down to human resources and see who they can get to help us. Reid and Morgan go down to the ME and take a look at the body, um…Kevin. Rossi and I will check out the crime scene."

Reid immediately felt another powerful jolt through his chest. He had to fling out his hand to the wall to support his body as it absorbed the shock. Lou must have heard the orders and decided to remind Reid that he was to try to stay behind. "Um, Hotch. I would rather stay here and work on the geographic profile," Reid piped up before his boss could take a step out the door.

Everyone stopped and turned toward Reid. It wasn't every day that someone would challenge Hotch's orders. Reid stood there slightly trembling under all the scrutiny.

"Do you think that plotting Kevin's locations are going to help break this case faster than examining his body for evidence?" Hotch asked in a stern voice. He clearly wasn't ruling out Reid's request; he was just looking for justification that it would be beneficial.

"Yes, getting a third location could definitely help me triangulate the comfort zone to a more specific area. That way when you guys get back we can apply your profile to the location I have identified, and our tech analyst will have more information to help narrow down the search," Reid explained quickly hoping that he sounded convincing.

Hotch nodded his head and adjusted his instructions so that Blake would now be joining Morgan at the medical examiners. Reid didn't realize that he had been holding his breath and let it out in a loud sigh after Hotch rearranged the assignments. Again, this brought him some unwanted attention, specifically from Morgan.

Hotch and Rossi had made their way out of the room and Morgan gestured for Blake to go on ahead. "Hey man, what is going on? First you nearly jump out of your skin after I touch you, then you won't even help comfort Garcia, and now you are clearly avoiding going out in the field. Did we do something to piss you off? Are you trying to avoid us?"

Reid cleared his throat and anticipated a shock any second now, but one never came. He looked at his friend and said the first thing that came to his mind, "I just need some time to wrap my head around this whole thing. I feel so out of control right now and I need to sort through my thoughts. I can't go out in the field with you and put you at risk because I'm distracted. Please don't tell Hotch, I swear by the time you guys get back I will be more focused."

Morgan took a minute to digest his admission and said, "Alright kid. Just remember, any time you want to talk about it, I'm here for you." He turned around and left Reid standing alone in the conference room. Spencer couldn't help but be thankful that he was able to get away with the first of many deceptions that were to come.

* * *

Everyone had gotten back together in the meeting room a little over two hours later. It turned out that they didn't need to get a replacement tech analyst because Garcia momentarily pushed aside her sorrow and made it her personal mission to help the team find and arrest the unsub. So, with all of the team present they began to compile the new information and build the profile.

"Blake and I found some marks on the victim's body that signaled him being dragged or carried into the bathroom," Derek began, purposefully avoiding the use of Kevin's name.

"Yeah, from the color of the bruising the grip was very strong. Here's the strange thing though, there were marks on both his upper arms and around his ankles. It was clear that both sets of marks were made by hands, and it leads us to believe that there may be two unsubs involved," Blake explained.

Reid nearly choked on the coffee that he was sipping. He started sputtering and ended up coughing some of it into a napkin that he snatched up off of the coffee station in the room. "What? Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, you can tell that the person that was holding the victim's arms was gripping him from behind. The finger imprints were distinct and when you compare them with the marks left on the ankles they don't match. The sizes of the finger imprints, the spacing between the digits, and even the thumb prints just don't correlate with one another. It had to be two people carrying the body into the bathroom and placing it in the tub," Morgan clarified.

Everyone around the table nodded their heads and JJ made a move to put this new information on the board. Reid felt another one of those friendly jolts of electricity sizzle through him urging him to dispel this new development.

"Wait!" Reid practically shouted. "Just like that we are going to assume there are now two unsubs out there? None of the other crime scenes have left any indication of partners. Don't you think we're jumping to conclusions based on flimsy evidence? I don't think we should even consider two people until we have more proof. A strong man could easily life someone of Kevin's size into a bathtub. He probably had to grab the ankles and place the legs in after he got the upper body situated," Reid rattled off trying to convince them to drop the partner hypothesis.

"Well, do you have any evidence to support your claims besides conjecture about the strength of a man?" Rossi questioned him, slightly perturbed at Reid's reaction to his fellow teammates' information.

"I am working on a new angle right now and it clearly points to a single male in his mid-50s. I haven't got enough evidence to support this yet, but I was going to present it to you as soon as I accumulated some," Reid responded.

"Well, why don't we leave both possibilities open for now, and revisit them later," Hotch said trying to placate all the agents. Frustrated with the mollifying response from Hotch, Reid stormed out of the room citing the need for better coffee. He knew Sam and Lou weren't going to be happy with the groups' refusal to shelve the partner theory, and he was worried with how they were going to react.

He plodded down into the universal break room and went over to the coffee machine. For once it was filled with that wonderful brew of rejuvenation. He grabbed his favorite mug from the cabinet and reached for the pot.

Before he was even able to get his hands on the glass container he felt a familiar bruising grip wrap around his upper right arm. He dropped his mug on the counter in surprise and watched as it cracked into pieces. Without a warning he was steered toward a nearby supply closet and shoved inside. When Reid turned around to face his captor he saw both partners present.

"You're not doing a very good job today Dr. Reid. You are going to have to learn to be way more convincing if you want to keep your friends from blowing to pieces with you," Sam said with a glint of menace in his voice as he blocked the only exit in the room.

Reid started backing up when he noticed that Lou was approaching him. He took three steps back and hit a metal shelving unit. There was nowhere else to go, and soon Lou was breathing down his neck. "Did you like my little surprise for you this morning? I decided it would be more fun to watch you discover it for yourself instead of warning you about it, and boy was I right. You jumped so high when I pushed the button the first time; I was almost rolling on the floor laughing. But, just so you know….I had it on the lowest setting all day. From now on each time I have to give you a nudge I will be upping the amplification," Lou taunted as he rubbed his hand down Reid chest feeling for the vest underneath.

Reid stiffened at Lou's contact. "I just don't have enough information yet to help sway them to my side. You guys haven't given me enough details to formulate a good story. As soon as I know exactly who you plan on framing I will be able to be more convincing," Reid said feeling slightly relieved as he felt Lou's hand finally leave his vicinity.

"Fine, you and Lou can talk some more tonight to help you narrow down your story. Meanwhile, keep trying to dispute their theories in order to keep the profile in disarray," Sam said has he turned to leave the closet. "Come on Lou, we've got things to do before we call it a day." With that being said, Sam and Lou left a trembling Reid alone in the closet to calm down and compartmentalize his emotions.

The second Reid emerged from the closet he ran into Blake. "We were wondering where you went. It doesn't take that long to get coffee," she said with a bit of suspicion behind her voice as she eyed the closet he just exited.

"I just needed a few seconds alone," Reid explained vaguely.

"Are you ready to come back? I don't think Hotch is going to tolerate your absence much longer. Unless you want to start answering some questions about why you're so jumpy and edgy today," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said as he saw his two tormentors out of the corner of his eye across the room. They were actually waving at him in a mocking salute as he walked back to the meeting with Blake.

"Who are your new friends?" Blake asked out of nowhere.

Startled Reid stuttered, "Oh…uh..th…they're from counterterrorism. We've been talking over coffee a lot lately."

"Wow, the Dr. Reid emerging from his cocoon to become a social butterfly?" Blake laughed.

"Not quite," he said, slightly disturbed by the way Blake called him Dr. Reid. It reminded him too much of Sam, who was always sure to say it in a condescending manner.

They arrived in the meeting and Reid felt all eyes immediately focus on him. He said nothing as he shuffled over to his spot by the window and waited for their conversation to restart. He could feel questions emanating from their bodies, but he didn't acknowledge their inquisitive looks. He kept himself segregated from the team and remained quiet for the rest of the time. While he knew he was definitely acting out of character, he still couldn't bring himself to interact so intimately with his fellow profilers.

* * *

The team continued working for a few more hours, but as the day wore on they weren't any closer to solving the case. Hotch decided to call it a night and sent everyone home around eight. Morgan invited Garcia over to his place so she wouldn't have to be alone with her thoughts that night. Reid felt a bit guilty because he had been avoiding Garcia like the plague. He knew that she would want to hug him, and he couldn't risk the contact. He watched them stroll out of the office in a somber mood and wished he could be walking out with them.

Looking around Reid realized that the only remaining member of the team was Hotch, and he was holed up in his office. It made Reid feel better knowing that his team was finally out of harm's way for the day. Reid decided to sit down at his desk and contemplate his next moves. He still hadn't come up with a plan of escape and it was bothering him. One would think that someone with his I.Q. could come up with a plan by now. He groaned in frustration at the aspect of kowtowing to these men for another day.

Before he knew it Lou had found his way over to Reid and said, "Don't you guys ever work normal hours? We're never here this late in counterterrorism."

All Reid could think of was the irony of the situation. The only reason Lou had to stay late was because Reid's team was trying to catch the criminal that was standing next to him complaining.

"Well come on. I'm beat! Looking forward to getting into a nice comfy bed," Lou stated as he grabbed Reid's arm to guide him to the elevator. "Oh, by the way, Sam's going to be tailing you tomorrow. Which means we've gotta make our time last tonight." Slowly, the hand that had his arm let go and found its way to the middle of his back, gently pushing Reid forward into the night.


	5. The Reason

**Disclaimer: I don't own this fine T.V. show.**

**Thank you to anyone who reviewed and added my story. Every kind gesture makes me smile. Enjoy.**

* * *

As soon as Lou got Reid down to the car he cuffed him to the door. Reid, slightly frustrated at this unnecessary precaution, waited for Lou to get into the car to confront him about it.

"I don't get it, why handcuff me at all? It's not like you can't just detonate the bomb if I try to run off. This is totally pointless," Reid said shaking the cuffs to bring Lou's attention to them.

Lou laughed as he steered the car out of the FBI's garage. "Well, you're assuming that the reason I use them is to keep you secure. Nah, the reason I really use them is because I love the feeling of control they give me over you." A large smile erupted on Lou's face when he revealed his sadistic tendency. "I gotta take some small pleasures out of being your baby-sitter for the next few days."

Unable to think of an adequate response Reid sat back in the car seat trying to get as comfortable as possible with his wrists fastened the door handle.

* * *

Reid landed on the floor of his apartment with a thud. He felt a sizzling pain jolt through his right wrist when he crashed down. He had stupidly put out his hands to break the fall and regretted it immediately.

Lou towered above him with his trademark smirk. Lou had shoved Reid through the door to the apartment for no particular reason except to watch him fall.

"Damn it. I think I sprained my wrist. What gives? I know that you're all trying to assert your dominance and shit, but this is ridiculous. Leave me the hell alone," Reid said with vehemence as he struggled to get up off the floor.

"Come on now…I already told you this is fun for me. All you're doing is giving me another reason to torment you later. Get up. We need to talk," Lou demanded as he locked the door behind him and ushered Reid to the couch.

Reid got up and cradled his wrist against his chest. He knew that he needed to ice it in order to quell the swelling that was going to inevitably occur. Instead, he went to the couch as directed by Lou, making sure to never fully turn his back on the man. He sat in his normal spot on the couch and stiffened a bit when Lou situated himself on the other end.

"You mentioned today that you were having a hard time doing your job because you needed more details. Sam and I talked after that and decided to go ahead and let you in on the whole thing. Now, I realize that this information will put you in an even more awkward position, but in the end that's neither here nor there," Lou said as he stared down Reid with his determined eyes.

"The man you are helping us frame is an arrogant bastard. He has more money than he knows what to do with, and doesn't like spending a penny. Awhile back Sam and I got the idea to start up our own security company. Working in the FBI has taught us some skills that are pretty valuable and lend themselves easily to helping people out. We put a lot of time and effort into making the business plan and proposing it to several banks for loans. The banks couldn't lend us the full amount of money, and they said we would need to either take on another partner or get an investor. We approached the man with our idea and laid it all out on the line. He promised to look over the details and get back with us. Well in a matter of days we got a call from a lawyer telling us that his client wasn't interested in investing and wished us good luck. That's it! Good luck! No explanation, no reasons, no advice, nothing! Since then every time we see the prick he can't even look us in the eye," Lou explained with a hint of anger flashing through his eyes.

Reid shifted uncomfortably on the couch anticipating the name of this man. Deductive reasoning alone led Reid to believe that the man must work in the bureau and be one of the higher ups to have so much money.

"To make matters worse, we found out a few weeks ago that the dipshit invested his money in another startup company. I can't believe his nerve. What? Didn't he think we'd find out? So we began to devise and execute our little plan here and everything has been working out pretty well so far. Wouldn't you say? Anyways, enough with the story, the man we need you to frame is none other than the great David Rossi. You are going to be integral in assuring he is arrested for the murders of those three FBI agents," Lou finally revealed.

"What? No! No way! I can't do that. He's my friend. He's a part of my family. Anyways, don't you think that Rossi will figure out what I'm doing before I have any chance at success? You guys really didn't think this out well did you. I mean…AHH!" Reid reacted when he felt a backhand across his face.

"Shut up! You damn well will be successful with this or else it won't be just you and Rossi that are in trouble. Look, you are the perfect person for the job because Rossi will never believe that the double-crosser is someone from his team. You have the best chance of success out of anybody, and we know you will get the job done with the proper motivation. In the end, it really isn't much of a choice for you. Help us and only you die, don't and everyone will," Lou said as he sat back on his side of the couch.

Reid massaged his cheek in disbelief. This wasn't going to work. He was a terrible liar and already some of his friends were beginning to suspect something. Rossi was quick and would figure out this lousy plan in a minute. But he had no choice, he still hadn't come up with a plan tip off his friends and he needed to buy himself more time.

"Alright, well, let's get to bed. I don't know about you but I'm beat," Lou said as he got up off the couch and walked behind Reid to the master bedroom. "Get on in there and clean up," he said while nodding at the bathroom.

"Um, well…are you going to take the vest off? I can't exactly shower with it," Reid questioned in the gentlest way possible, hoping that Lou would let his guard down a bit.

"Ha, that's funny kid. Nah, you can just give yourself a sponge bath for all I care. Figure it out for yourself. I'll be right here waiting for you, oh and leave the door open a crack."

Reid retreated into the bathroom and made sure to leave the door open just a sliver. He quickly divested himself of his clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes had their signature rings around them, but they seemed a bit darker. His torso was covered in that ghastly monstrosity that those two men had forced upon him. It was tighter than all hell and he could see the buckles cutting into his shoulders. His right wrist was swollen from the sprain and looked a mixture of red and blue hues. Finally, his cheek was red from the hit earlier and a small scratch had developed from the ring that Lou was wearing.

After inspecting his body he decided that a washcloth and soap was going to be his best option when it came to cleaning his abdomen. It was a bit of slow going and he wasn't surprised to hear Lou say, "Hurry up in there, I got things to do." Reid quickly brushed his teeth, put on his pajamas, and walked into his invaded bedroom.

Lou jumped up from the bed and threw a pair of handcuffs at Reid. Reid managed to catch them for once, and gave Lou a look that said, "Not again."

"Put it on your right wrist and then attach it to one of the slats of the headboard," Lou instructed.

Reid did as he was told and sat on the bed waiting for Lou to leave the room now that he was secured.

"Good doctor. Now here's another set and put this one on your left wrist," Lou said as he threw the cuffs at Reid.

Unfortunately, this time Reid was not so deft at catching the cuffs due to his position and they hit him in the face. Reid picked them up with his left hand and transferred them to his restrained right. He was able to latch a cuff around his left wrist and then looked back at Lou for further instructions.

"I'm coming around to fasten you to the bed. Don't think of pulling anything on me," Lou cautioned Reid even though he was clearly not a threat. Lou grabbed Reid's left wrist and stretched it all the way over to the left side of the king-sized bed, forcing Reid to lie on his stomach. It was completely uncomfortable and his arms were stretched out to their limits, leaving him no room to maneuver his body.

Lou went back over the restraints to make sure that Reid had actually fastened them correctly, and to ensure there wasn't any way he could squeeze his wiry wrists out of the cuffs. He ended up tightening both cuffs so snug that they would cut into Reid's skin if he fought against them. "Best be careful tonight, you don't want your team to see ligature marks and start asking questions. I've gotta go out and get some supplies. Your cabinets are severely under-stocked. I'll be back in about an hour. Oh, before I go I need to make sure you won't be yelling out to alert your neighbors. Hmm, this should do it," Lou said as he tied a thick black gag in Reid's mouth. "See ya around," Lou taunted on his way out the bedroom door.

Reid listened to him exit the apartment and felt an overwhelming bout of rebellion flood through his body. He tried to push the gag out of his mouth, but Lou had fastened it too tightly. So he moved his focus to the cuffs. He toiled against the cuffs for a little while but gave up cursing himself for buying a wrought iron headboard that wasn't even close to giving. Once he wore out all of his options he tried to find a comfortable position and finally fell into a restless slumber.

* * *

Reid was jolted awake at ten forty-five when his phone rang. He had placed it on nightstand to charge when Lou had brought him into the bedroom. He knew that the ring was Morgan's and jerked against his bonds in a futile effort to get to the phone. He heard a pounding of steps down the hall and then the door opened. Lou shuffled into the room and snatched up Reid's phone.

"No," Reid tried to shout at Lou, but it only came out in a muffled heap of sounds.

"Spencer Reid's phone," Lou answered with not a care in the world.

"Uh, Reid?" Morgan asked in a puzzled tone.

"No man, this is Lou. I'm his roommate," Lou explained winking at Reid.

"No way man, Reid doesn't have a roommate. Who are you? Where is he?" Morgan practically shouted through the phone.

"Calm down. I assure you I'm his roommate. Spencer knocked out about two hours ago and left his phone in the living room. I only answered because I didn't want the ringer to wake him up," Lou tried to pacify Morgan.

"I don't believe you! I swear if you've hurt Reid you'll have hell to pay," Morgan threatened.

"Alright, alright…I'll wake him up so you can have your proof that he's just fine," Lou countered as he pulled the gag out of Reid's mouth and held the phone up to his face.

Lou mouthed the words, "Watch it," before nodding for Reid to start talking.

"Morgan?" Reid quietly questioned.

"Reid, kid, are you alright? Who is that guy? What's going on?" Morgan grilled in record time.

"Calm down Morgan. I'm fine. It's just Lou…he's my new roommate," Reid tried to explain.

"Lou, who? Where did you meet him? How long has this been going on?" Morgan inquired.

"Lou Pierce, he's from counterterrorism. We've been hanging out lately and he moved in last week to help me cut back on the amount I'm spending on rent," Reid lied through his teeth.

"Why didn't you mention this before?"

"Uh, Morgan. Was there a reason why you called?" Reid asked, obviously avoiding the question.

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to see if you needed a ride in the morning since Hotch asked us to be there early. I'll have Garcia with me, and we can stop to get coffee on the way," Morgan answered.

"No thanks, Lou and I usually drive in together now. I'll see you in the morning," Reid said, ending the conversation.

"Hey kid, you sure everything is okay? I could be over there in ten minutes," Morgan offered.

"No…no, I'm just tired. It's been a long and emotionally exhausting day. Get some sleep yourself. Bye." Reid ended.

Lou snapped the phone shut and glared at Reid. "Well at least you did a decent job calming him down. I can't believe your stupid friends call you so late."

"Why did you answer the phone? You could have just let it go to voicemail." Reid suggested, trying to understand the man's actions.

"I knew that your friends would panic if you didn't answer the phone. They are way to overprotective of you. One missed call could have resulted in your whole team banging down the door. No…it was better to answer it and get this whole roommate business out in the open. Hope you can manage all their questions about Sam and I tomorrow," Lou surmised aloud as he reached to place Reid's gag back in his mouth.

"No, please. I'll stay quiet. You don't have to use that," Reid pleaded as he tried turning his head to face the other side of the bed. He again writhed against the cuffs causing the one on his already abused right wrist to tear open a bit.

"Sorry doctor, but I think you already know my reasons behind this," Lou stated after he successfully fastened the gag tightly around Reid's head.

* * *

Morning came creeping through the window at about six. Reid's eyes cracked open and quickly shut due to the sunlight streaming in. His mouth was sore and dry from the gag that occupied it all night. His wrist was throbbing in pain and swollen beyond belief. He heard a scuffling sound in the hall which signaled that one of his captors was coming to release him.

Much to Reid's surprise Sam opened the door to his room and said, "Good morning sunshine. I bet you would love to be set free."

Reid managed a tiny muffled response affirming the man's question.

"Wow, look at that wrist. I bet that hurts like a bitch. You better wear some long sleeves today to make sure your team doesn't see that nastiness," Sam warned him as he set to releasing Reid from the bed.

Once free Reid quickly tore the gag out of his mouth and threw it on the floor. He jumped up and made a beeline for the bathroom. Out of habit he shut the door behind him and started to do his business. Before he knew it the door was opening and Sam was watching him.

"You know the rules," was all he said.

Reid got ready for work as quickly as possible, anxious to get around his friends. He bandaged his wrist and prayed that he would be able to keep it hidden all day. There weren't any lasting marks on his face from the various abuses it received last night, except for the small scratch that was so miniscule someone would have to have a microscope to see it.

Once he was ready to face another day he followed Sam and Lou down to the car. Wordlessly they made their way to the bureau. All the while Reid was in the back slowly starting to form a strategy. He had an inkling of an idea brewing and needed somewhere safe to foster it into an all-out plan.

Immediately when the elevator doors opened Reid was nudged out first.

"Don't forget, I'll be the eyes and ears today. Try not to fuck it up," Sam said harshly as he and Lou walked away.

Reid was left standing there staring after them. He took a deep breath to clear his head and started ambling toward his desk. He didn't even get a chance to set down his bag when he felt a strong hand grip his right arm and steer him up the stairs toward the round-table room.

"Okay pretty-boy. You look like shit and I think it's time you let me know what is really going on," a worried Morgan demanded of his friend.


	6. Deception

**Disclaimer: I do not own the greatness that is Criminal Minds.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added the story. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Nothing is going on Morgan," Reid stated as he wrenched his arm out of Morgan's grasp. He had to turn his back to his friend to hide his wince of pain that came from jostling his swollen wrist. Quickly he moved his arms to their usual position, encircling his waist, and prayed that Morgan didn't notice that he was cradling his right arm instead of hugging his body.

"I may not be as smart as you, but I can tell when something is up with my friend," Morgan retorted as he grabbed Reid by the shoulder and turned him around to face him.

"Well, your powers of profiling must be off because like I told you last night, everything's fine," Reid remarked hoping his friend would let this drop.

"Yeah, right. Speaking of last night, I want to know more about this so-called new roommate of yours and why you never mentioned him before," Morgan demanded.

Reid stood there silently trying to think through the situation. When he was riding in the car to the office with Lou and Sam he started thinking that perhaps the best way to alert his team that something was wrong was to push them into investigating his new friends. Reid knew that his coworkers were overprotective of him. The team couldn't stand it when Reid was hiding something, and they always made it their mission to weasel information out of him. Perhaps this time he would act extremely standoffish and it would motivate them to circumvent him altogether and start to snoop into his life behind his back. He could only hope that they would start by checking out the background of his new roommate. His biggest hope was that Rossi would get involved and see warning signs when he found out that Reid was now "friends" with Lou and Sam. He knew this plan was a long-shot, but he had to try something.

"Well, Lou has worked here for years in counterterrorism. Is it my fault you never bothered to meet anyone else in the office besides our team?" Reid responded with as much cynicism as he could.

Morgan took a step back when he heard Reid's words. "Whoa man. See this is what I'm talking about. You're never this defensive unless you're trying to hide something. Come on, it's me. You can tell me anything."

"There's nothing to tell," Reid said through clenched teeth.

"Okay, let's start at the beginning. When did you and Lou start hanging out?"

Reid heaved a sigh and sat down in one of the comfortable office chairs. He refused to look at Morgan as he talked and focused his gaze out the window overlooking the bullpen. "We met a few months ago over coffee in the break room. We started talking and then we kept running into each other. Eventually we decided to hang out and our friendship went from there. He also introduced me to his friend Sam who works in counterterrorism too."

Frustrated, Morgan positioned himself in between Reid and the window, trying to force the young man to look him in the eye. "Why haven't you ever mentioned them before last night?"

Reid barely glanced at him when he answered, "Well I didn't know that all of my after work activities needed to be approved by you. You know, I do have a life outside of this job."

"I know, but you used to talk to me about these things. We used to hang out. Lately, you haven't been interested in being around any of us," Morgan said.

Reid had been keeping his distance lately. He had gone through a lot over the last year, and he had chosen to withdraw into his own world into order to cope with it. The idea of going out after work or hanging out with friends didn't appeal to him anymore. He just wanted to go home after a long day and unwind over a good book. He realized now that he shouldn't have shut everyone out, but that was something he would have to deal with when this was all over.

"Things change, Morgan. I decided I needed to get away from this job after hours, and hanging out with you guys wasn't the way to do it. After Maeve died, I knew that I needed to keep work and my personal life separate. It's perfect with Lou and Sam. They aren't involved with my work and they've helped me to learn how to relax when the day is done," Reid explained.

"How do they help you relax?" Morgan asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you seem to be a bit on edge lately. The last time you were like this there were other factors involved. So, I want to know exactly how they help you unwind." Morgan reiterated, hinting at Reid's former substance abuse.

"How dare you? Just because I've been distant and jumpy lately you're brain immediately goes to drugs? I can't believe you would accuse me of using them again. See, this is another reason why I haven't been hanging out with you guys. There's no trust between us anymore," Reid said seething. He couldn't believe that Morgan would bring that up, especially when Sam was listening. He didn't need his captor getting any ideas on how abuse him further.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Rossi said as he stepped into the room with Blake at his side.

"Rossi, I'm just trying to get Reid to open up about his new roommate." Morgan explained looking at his best friend with discerning eyes.

"Roommate? When did you get a roommate?" Blake asked with a puzzled look.

"Last week."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Blake probed.

"Ugh, you sound just like Morgan. I don't tell you guys everything," Reid answered.

"I know, but something that big is usually shared between friends. Who is it?" she asked innocently.

"You remember those guys you saw me with yesterday? Well, Lou was one of them. We've been hanging out for a while now," Reid stated thankful that Rossi was in the vicinity to hear the names of his new friends.

"You saw these guys Blake?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, Reid was talking to them yesterday after he left the meeting to get coffee. They work on our floor. I'm sure you would know them if you saw them," she said trying to defuse the situation.

"Well, just because they work for the FBI doesn't mean their good guys."

"Morgan, drop it! I can make my own decisions. I don't need you checking up on me all the time," Reid practically yelled. All the while he was thinking that ironically the thing he needed the most now was for Morgan to go snooping into his business.

"Calm down Reid. No one thinks that you can't make your own choices. Morgan is just trying to be a good friend," Rossi intervened trying to placate him.

"A good friend? I've got some good friends, and their sitting out there in the bullpen. You guys aren't my friends, you're my coworkers. Let's try to keep it that way," Reid said as he got up to retreat out of the door. He knew that comment probably hurt his friends, but he needed them to get suspicious anyways. He was determined to keep up this farce until one of his teammates took matters into their own hands.

"Oh, there you all are. I was just looking for you guys. It's time we reconvened and reanalyzed the evidence," Hotch announced as he walked into the room, blocking Reid's exit. Irritated that his escape was thwarted, he turned around, walked back over to his chain and plopped down in defeat.

* * *

They had been going over evidence for nearly three hours. There was no new evidence to add to the board, and everyone looked spent. There was a stalemate going on between the team members. Reid was still trying to convince everyone that there was only one unsub, while the rest of the group was dead set that there were two.

Reid was looking haggard because all throughout the meeting he kept getting shocked by Sam whenever something the team said hit too close to home. Each time Reid felt a shock he knew it was because Sam wanted him to refute whatever statement was said. Luckily, he was getting good at hiding his reaction to the electricity. He started getting a feel for the statements that would set Sam off, and he would prepare himself for the incoming shock. He could just cough to try and cover his cringes, and hoped no one was watching him too closely.

Throughout the whole briefing Reid kept pushing his team to see it his way. He mentioned that the unsub must be someone the agents knew because there was no sign of forced entry. He knew the agents well enough to get them to let their guard down and let him in the house. He may have been working for the FBI for quite some time because he was familiar with various agents in vastly different departments. Reid added that the unsub was evolving because he slit the wrists of two of his victims so he must have settled on a method that works best for him. Finally, the unsub must be an experienced agent in order to know how to cover up a crime scene.

"See, this all points to an older experienced agent. He would have connections in multiple departments, he probably is pretty high in the organization, and he has money to fund his crimes," Reid said with a look of triumph on his face.

"I see what you're getting at Reid, but I wonder if you're being one hundred percent objective. You seem to be overlooking the hand marks on the wrists and ankles, and that indicates the work of two people. Also, how would just one person string Giraurd up from the beam by himself. Giraurd was a big man, it would take a lot of power to get him hanging from the ceiling," Rossi contested Reid's claims.

"If the unsub is physically fit, like yourself, than it is quite possible that he could do it alone," Reid disputed from his familiar position by the window, removed from the rest of the team.

"I don't know kid. I think I'm with Rossi on this one. You haven't explained away the other evidence enough to justify only one unsub," Morgan said in support of Rossi.

"Yeah Reid, it kind of feels like your forcing this profile to fit the evidence, and not allowing the evidence build the profile," Blake said.

"Well, I don't want to discount anyone's leads until we have more evidence to support one over the other. Unfortunately, that means we might have to wait until another victim is discovered to finally nail down the profile," Hotch said.

Reid internally shuddered when he heard those words. One of the worst parts of this job was when they were stuck with waiting for another fatality in order to gain more insight into the unsubs mind. Reid also knew that Sam had heard those words, and may feel obligated to take Hotch up on his suggestion.

"Reid, why don't you add your profile to the left side of the board and we will put the multiple unsubs on the right. This way we can compare notes and see if there is any overlap between the two," Hotch suggested.

Reid marched up to his assigned part of the board and grabbed a dry erase marker. He lifted his right arm into the air and started writing his profile on the board. He had been so absorbed in the meeting that he had momentarily forgotten about the throbbing pain in his wrist, and now he was being required to write with it. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, willing away the tears of pain that were developing in the corners of his eyes. He then pushed through the agony to put his soon to be Rossi condemning evidence on the board.

"Reid, is everything alright?" Hotch inquired after he noticed Reid stopped writing for a few seconds.

"Yeah, I'm good."

The team continued to discuss their next steps while Reid worked up front. It was right as Reid was putting his final touches on his profile that Morgan noticed a swath of white peeking out of the dark blue sleeve on Reid's right arm.

He got immediately got up and approached Reid. He grabbed his right elbow and Reid dropped the marker in surprise. Reid turned his head and looked at Morgan with eyes that said, "What the hell?"

Morgan turned Reid toward him, unbuttoned his sleeve, and pushed it up revealing a thick white bandage layered around his wrist. Morgan let out a low growl at the sight of the gauze and gave Reid a no-nonsense look.

"What's with the bandage, Reid?" Morgan practically snarled with anger at seeing his friend injured.

"Umm, nothing special. I hurt myself last night and needed to wrap it up to keep the swelling down," Reid scrambled to explain.

"How did you do it?" JJ asked coming up to get a better look at his dressing.

"It was stupid really. I tripped walking over the threshold of the door into my apartment. I put my hands out to break the fall, and my right hand took the brunt of my weight."

"Then why is there blood?" Morgan asked in a skeptical tone.

"Oh, uh…I cut myself this morning trying to slice up a piece of gauze. I had to use my left hand because my right was way too sore. And you know me, I'm super clumsy and my left hand slipped and nailed my wrist," Reid said trying to avoid everyone's eyes.

"You're a terrible liar," Morgan stated. "Why don't you tell us what really happened?"

For the second time that day Reid jerked his arm out of Morgan's grasp. "You know what Morgan, no one asked you to believe me. Nothing I say lately is good enough for you. Hotch, I hope this meeting is over because I can't stand here another minute with someone who doesn't trust a word coming out of my mouth," Reid exclaimed before he stormed out of the room.

"Guys, something is seriously wrong with him," Morgan said to his fellow profilers.

"I noticed it too. He is definitely hiding something from us," Blake agreed.

"Do you think it has something to do with his new friends?" Rossi inquired.

"Yeah, maybe…"

"What new friends?" Hotch asked, trying to catch up with the other profilers.

Morgan explained what happened last night when he called Reid and how that resulted into today's heated conversation. He summarized all the facts he knew about Reid's new roommate and looked to Blake to add anything she knew.

"Well the only thing that I know is that Reid was talking to those guys after he stormed out yesterday. He seemed nervous when I brought them up, but he didn't mention that either of them had moved in with him," she said as she watched Reid walk to his desk in the bullpen.

"Does anyone know these two?" Hotch asked the team.

Everyone shook their head, but after Rossi piped up with a question. "What are their last names?"

"Uhh…Garcia?"

"Give me a second," she said as she typed furiously at her laptop. "Sam Cruz and Lou Pierce."

"Huh, I actually do know them. They wanted me to help fund a business they were starting, but I turned them down. They were trying to open up a security company and I just got a shady feeling about them. So I had my lawyer contact them with my rejection to their proposal. They were not happy with me. Looking back, I really didn't get a good feeling off of those two. I hope Reid didn't get mixed up in their money issues," Rossi declared.

"Well, why don't we have Garcia look into their recent records and monetary histories? Something is going on and I don't think it's a coincidence that Reid suddenly developed two new friendships seemingly overnight," Blake suggested.

Everyone nodded their agreement and watched out the window as Reid walked away with his latest friends for a destination unknown.

* * *

Reid looked up a few minutes after he dropped into his chair to see his two new "friends" hovering above him.

"We need to talk. NOW," Sam bellowed as he gestured for Reid to get up.

Reid knew this was coming, especially since the team had found his injury. He got up and followed the two buddies to the same supply room as yesterday.

They quickly ushered Reid in and closed the door. He backed into the shelves again, making sure one of them couldn't sneak up behind him.

Lou reached out and snatched Reid's swollen wrist squeezed it tight.

Reid let out a cry of anguish at the onslaught of pain that traveled up his arm. It brought a fresh wave of tears to his eyes and caused him to cough to quiet his sobs. He saw a blossoming of blood come through the bandage due to Lou's harsh grip tearing open his cuts from the restraints.

"St..stop, please," Reid begged for the pain to end. He tried to pry Lou's hand off of his but his left hand was just not strong enough.

Lou gave Reid's wrist one more harsh squeeze before he flung it away. Reid instantly cradled it to his chest in hopes of relieving some of the pain.

"Well, that was all sorts of interesting," Sam began standing shoulder to shoulder with Lou. "I thought I told you this morning to hide your bandage? You're supposed to be avoiding their suspicion, not adding to it."

"At least you were successful at getting Rossi's profile on their radar. Now we just need to solidify it," Lou continued for his friend.

"Yeah, I heard Agent Hotchner mention that the only thing ya'll could do now was wait for more evidence to appear. I guess Lou and I are going to work tonight," Sam said with a smirk.

"We have just the agent in mind, but were not telling you yet. You get to be surprised along with the rest of your team," Lou taunted.

"No, don't kill anyone else. I promise I'll get them to come around to my side. Just give me more time," Reid pleaded as he massaged his wrist.

"No dear doctor, we are going to help you out. I know you hate asking for assistance, but just this once we're going to give it to you without your request," Sam squashed Reid's plea.

"No, you really…," Reid started to say.

"I'd shut up before we decide to choose one of your teammates as our next target," Sam threatened.

Reid immediately silenced his voice and looked away.

"Anyways, what was all of that arguing about? You and Morgan got pretty heated. Don't you think he's going to suspect something," Sam asked Reid trying to look for a hint of panic in his eyes.

"I was trying to get him out of my business. If Morgan thinks I need rescuing he won't leave me alone and I won't be able to get the job done. I had to stand up to him to show him that I was alright," Reid lied.

Suddenly Lou grabbed Reid's chin and forced him to look him in the eye. "You better not be playing us Doctor Reid. You won't like what happens if we find out this is all a plot to warn your friends. Remember what we told you that first night about your mom and Henry? We can still make those things happen, and we will if you're screwing us over!"

"No, I swear I'm just trying to get Morgan off my back. I just want to get through this without my family and friends getting hurt," Reid said as he jerked his chin out of Lou's grasp.

"You better be. Alright, for the rest of the day I want you to lay low. Keep your talking to a minimum and try to leave at a decent hour. We've now got work to do tonight and we don't want to be waiting around for you to get done. I'll be around to check on you in a few hours. Other than that…," Sam trailed off as he looked at Lou.

"I've got one more surprise for you," Lou said mischievously. "The vest is a beautiful thing. I bet you don't even notice it anymore. Heck you've been wearing it for almost forty-eight hours, I bet it's like a second skin now. So, we think it's time you had a constant reminder of what we're trying to accomplish here."

Lou stepped forward and pulled out his remote. He fiddled with a few of the buttons and all of a sudden Reid felt a fiery pain emanating from underneath the vest. He cried out in agony and watched as rivulets of blood filtered from the cause of the pain. He couldn't pinpoint a specific source but felt an intense stinging coming from various points all around his body. He looked up at Lou for some explanation as to what was hurting him.

"I got bored when I was making the vest and decided to add in some hooks. Don't worry; they didn't go in too deep. At least not deep enough to damage anything major, but they are going to make taking the vest off quite impossible. Not like you could anyways…," Lou explained with a bit of glee in his voice. Lou reached in his pocket and pulled out a roll of gauze and threw it at Reid. "Here, fix yourself up before you come out. We wouldn't want anyone getting suspicious now."

With that Sam and Lou walked out of the supply closet leaving Reid to sob in isolation.

With tears in his eyes, Reid looked down at the gauze in his hands and wondered just how in the hell he was supposed to bandage up wounds that were impossible to reach. He decided to just wrap the dressing around his waist just below the vest to catch the blood. He would have to check on it often to ensure it didn't leak through his shirt. He was very thankful that he decided to wear a dark blue shirt with a matching sweater vest today. It would make seeing the blood harder if it leaked onto his clothes.

He was just about done fixing himself up when the door to the closet opened. He jerked his head up in surprise and stayed as still as a mouse, hoping whoever it was would just go away.

"Reid?"


	7. Unexpected Visitor

**Disclaimer: I do not own or make a profit off of this amazing TV show.**

**Thanks to everyone who added and reviewed. I've got to say that the reviews are making me feel like a million bucks! I can't thank you all enough for your encouragement. I hope I continue to keep you interested in this story. I am foreseeing about 4 or 5 more chapters till its over. Thanks again everyone!**

**Oh, btw, I apologize if there are any spelling, grammar, or just plain weird errors in my writing. I try to edit it all myself, but sometimes I have a hard time spotting my own mistakes. So thanks for the heads up if you see anything that is obstructing the story or doesn't make sense.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Reid? Are you in here?" Rossi's voice rang throughout the supply closet.

Deciding that Rossi already knew that he was in there and was just asking as a formality Reid decided to answer, "Yeah, I'm here."

Quickly after answering Reid began to tuck in his shirt and straighten out his appearance in order to avoid probing questions. He really didn't feel like explaining the reason his midsection was wrapped in gauze.

"What are you doing in here all alone? I thought you hated the dark," Rossi inquired because Sam and Lou had turned out the lights when they left. There had only been a hint of radiance coming into the closet through the crack under the door.

"I just needed a seconds alone," Reid said, using the same explanation he gave Blake yesterday.

"Well, I wanted to come and ask you how you were really doing."

"I'm fine," Reid said as he made his way to the door that Rossi was blocking.

"I don't really believe that Reid. You always say that you fine when you really aren't," Rossi replied, not budging from his position in front of the exit.

"Well, it's not my problem what you believe and disbelieve. Now please get out of my way, I've got a lot of work to do today," Reid said bitterly as he tried again to leave the supply closet.

"I have one more question before you take off," Rossi said holding up his hand to signal to Reid to stop his hasty exit.

Reid rolled his eyes and asked, "What?"

"How well do you really know Sam and Lou? I had an interaction with them about six months ago, and the whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth. They didn't rope you into their money issues did they?"

"Rossi, with all due respect, I don't think this is really any of your business. I'm sorry that you got a bad feeling off of them, but they have been nothing but great since we started hanging out. Sam is really organized and Lou is really in control. They give me advice on how to handle situations and they are constantly with me," Reid explained, hoping that maybe Rossi would pick up on a few of the things he was hinting at.

Rossi quirked an eyebrow up when he heard Reid's response. Those weren't the normal descriptors one would use to portray their friends; organized and controlling. Usually one used words like caring, comforting, helpful, and loyal. The other thing that was bothering him was the way that Reid said that the men are always with him. Was he trying to hint at something?

"Ah, so that's what you value in your friends? Organization and control?"

"Yeah, well I respect people that have their lives completely planned out and know where they're going. Those two are really helping me figure out what to do next with my life," Reid said as he finally managed to brush past Rossi and out the door with a hand wrapped around his waist to ensure the gauze would stay put.

As he exited Reid silently wished that Rossi picked up on his last few hints, but he couldn't risk saying anything else because Sam was still listening in on his conversations. He went back to his desk and sat down in his chair. He winced once his backend hit the soft leather because the hooks in his skin jostled around with the rough movement. He had to struggle to keep his tears at bay even though the pain was becoming excruciating.

"What's the problem Reid? Are you hurting?" Blake asked when she saw Reid wince from across her desk.

"What? No…I was just overwhelmed with how many folders are still in my to-do pile," Reid lied.

"Uh huh," was all Blake said in response as she put her head down to get back to work.

* * *

Rossi couldn't shake the feeling that Reid was trying to relay something to him in during that last conversation. He went back to his office to mentally review the discussion, and to try to write it all down before he forgot it everything that was said. He was sure that Reid wouldn't use those words to describe his friends unless it was on purpose. When he had met Sam and Lou he could tell that their personalities were strong and on the alpha like, so controlling and organized could potentially describe them and their need to exert power over others.

Another thing that concerned Rossi was Reid's last words before walked out on him. The fact that Reid mentioned that Sam and Lou were helping him to figure out what to do with his life was worrying. Reid almost made it sound like they were telling him what to do. In fact, when Reid mentioned that they had plans that skyrocketed Rossi's suspicions one hundred percent.

In the end, Rossi wasn't sure if he was just being overprotective or incredibly observant, but he was going to keep an eye on Reid to see how he interacted with his two new friends. There had to be something going on, and Rossi was beginning to fear the worst.

* * *

Reid's day turned out to be quite grueling. He couldn't get comfortable in any position in his chair, and as a consequence he couldn't get any work done. The pain coming from his wounds was agonizing and he was contemplating using some pain killers. Nevertheless he decided that it wasn't worth the risk to only mildly relieve the pain that was radiating from his torso. He was also paranoid that the blood might leak through the gauze and show up on his clothes. So he made it his mission to visit the bathroom every fifteen minutes to check his bandages. This behavior didn't go unnoticed and he ended up getting questioned by multiple team members about his health. He did his best to avoid giving them a clear answer and tried to carry on like nothing was wrong.

When he wasn't working he was looking up to Rossi's office. He kept wondering if the man caught on to his clues. If he did, was he doing any investigating? In the end, he really needed Rossi and the team to catch on fast because he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out under all this pressure. Sam and Lou were escalating their violence against him, and they were now on a mission to take out another agent. This whole thing had to stop one way or another.

To make matters worse, Sam stopped by several times throughout the day to make sure Reid was staying on track and once to question him about his conversation with Rossi. He would make it a point to pat Reid on the back further upset his puncture wounds and cause Reid even more discomfort. Though, the good news was that every time Sam made an appearance Reid could swear that at least one member of the team's eyes were observing them. This gave him a bit of hope that they were going to get start nosing into his business.

In spite of all the various things going on, the day ended up dragging due to all the pressure that Reid was under. He kept staring wistfully at the clock on his computer wishing the minutes to tick by faster. When he finally heard Hotch tell everyone to call it a day around 6:30 he couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Unfortunately, the problem with the work day being done was the fact he would have to endure another night at the hands of his captors. He really wasn't looking forward to another night trapped on his bed secured tightly with metal restraints. What choice did he have though? He had to keep playing along and hope the team would figure this out soon.

The other thing that was bothering him was the fact that someone he knew was going to die tonight and there was nothing he could do about it. If he found any way to intervene then someone on his team, his mom, or Henry could be hurt. Is it selfish to put your own family before an acquaintance? This just wasn't fair. How is anyone supposed to choose who lives and who dies? It was giving him a sense of Déjà vu. This wasn't the first time in this position, and last time Reid made the wrong choice and two people died instead of one. To make matters worse, those people died because he made the selfish choice to save himself by ultimately choosing their death. In the end, it all goes back to what Lou had said last night, 'it really isn't much of a choice for you.' Those words couldn't be truer.

* * *

It was seven o'clock by the time they all got back to the apartment. The guys actually made time to stop and get some fast food for dinner, which Reid was eternally grateful for because he hadn't eaten since yesterday. The only thing that he survived off of today was coffee and a few snacks he had stashed in his desk. The second Lou handed Reid his food in the car he scarfed it down, which wasn't easy because Sam had fastened his swollen right hand to the door.

The bedtime procedure was the same as last night and no less awkward. It was still Sam's turn to keep an eye on Reid so he was the one that restrained him to the bed after Reid had cleaned himself up. He was a bit gentler than Lou and as a result allowed Reid to choose to lay on his back or stomach. Once Reid had positioned himself on his back Sam simply looped the cuffs through a rod in the middle of the headboard, and fastened Reid's wrists next to each other. While it wasn't the ideal sleeping position, it was much better than the previous night's.

"Lou and I have gotta take off now. You know, we got business to finish with one of your fellow agents. Sorry, but we've gotta make sure you keep quiet so I'll be using this again," Sam explained as he held up the vile black gag that kept him silent all last night.

"That really isn't necessary, I promise I'll be quiet," Reid responded with a bit of desperation in his voice.

"You really do think we're stupid…," Sam said with an exasperated tilt in his voice. As a consequence he grabbed Reid's jaw and squeezed it until it opened. He maliciously forced the gag into Reid's mouth and tied it as tight as possible. Reid was sure that in the morning he would see irritation marks from the gag that he would have to explain to his co-workers. "Don't underestimate our intelligence Doctor Reid, you'll regret it. Oh, and don't even think about messing with that gag, or else I'll switch it with an even more unpleasant one next time," Sam muttered as he got off the bed and closed the door behind him followed by the click of the lock.

Reid laid there for a few minutes trying to get comfortable, but he knew it was fruitless. How could one get comfortable when there was a knot of a gag digging into the back of your skull, a vest that could potentially explode that was attached to you via taut buckles and invasive hooks, and a swollen wrist that was already cut up by the same cuffs that were holding him in place tonight? In fact, just thinking about all of his injuries made him realize how much pain he was experiencing. It took him being immobile for all the pain to catch up with him, and now he couldn't stop those tears from earlier in the day from straying down his face.

After Reid forced the pain to the back of his mind, he decided that once he heard the front door shut signaling that Sam and Lou had left he was going to attempt to alert the neighbors that something was wrong. He planned on kicking his legs around as wildly as he could in order to make as much noise as possible. With any luck his neighbors would become disturbed and call the building owner to come and investigate what was going on.

So Reid kept his ears open for the door but it was difficult to listen for over the T.V. that was left on in his living room. But it wasn't more than five minutes later that he heard what he was waiting for. The front door creaked open on its rusty hinges and then it closed with a thud. After counting to twenty to give the guys enough time to get away from the apartment he started thrashing about.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Reid, the only reason the door was opened was because someone knocked on it, which he didn't hear over the T.V. playing in the living room. Lou straightaway went and looked through the peephole and was surprised to see Morgan standing on the other side with a pizza and a movie in his hand. At that moment, Lou knew he had no other choice than to open the door or it would provoke suspicion in the agent.

"Hello. How can I help you?" Lou asked when he opened the door, eyeing Morgan and the load he was bearing.

"Yeah, I came to hang out with Reid. You must be Lou, right?" Morgan answered as he forced his way through the door.

"I am. I bet your Agent Morgan, right? I recognize your voice from out phone conversation last night," Lou said shutting the door behind the uninvited guest.

"I am. So, where's Reid?"

"Oh, uh…was he expecting you? Because I know for a fact that he is already in bed with the lights out. He said it was a long hard day and all he wanted to do was sleep," Lou tried to convince Morgan.

"Nah man, I thought I would surprise him with a dinner and a movie night? Well, I'll just go wake him up. I need to talk to him about something anyways, and the kid could always use more food to fatten up his figure," Morgan said as he tried to step around Lou.

"No wait! I'll go wake him up. He would probably be more comfortable with me since I see him in his pajamas every night. Why don't you go wait in the living room with my friend Sam? I'll be right back," Lou said as he sauntered away down the hall leaving Morgan in the living room with Sam.

It was then that a loud sound issued from down the hall. It sounded like a five year old kid was jumping on his parent's bed with fervor.

"What's that sound? Reid?" Morgan called down the hall. He dropped the pizza and movie on the coffee table and started to make his way to his friend's room.

"Hey buddy, stop. Lou will handle it. It's probably Reid in the middle of a nightmare. Lou is really good at getting him to wake up and calm down from those things. The man knows how to take care of his friend," Sam said trying to persuade Morgan from leaving the living room.

Morgan gave him a skeptical look and started stomping down the hall anyways.

By the time he was halfway down the hallway he heard Reid's groggy voice calling out, "I'll be out in a minute Morgan. It was just a nightmare. Go make yourself comfortable."

"Are you sure kid?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, Lou's helping me out. I'll just be a minute," Reid responded.

With a shake of his head Morgan turned around and went back to the couch. Something just didn't feel right, and he was going to get to the bottom of it tonight.

* * *

Reid was so focused on making noise that he didn't hear Morgan call out to him from the foyer. So the second Lou flung the bedroom door open Reid froze solid with fright. They hadn't left yet! Reid knew that he was going to be in major trouble for attempting to alarm the neighbors. He eyed Lou up and down to try to gauge what was going to happen, but he never expected him to start undoing his restraints.

"Don't think for a second that you are not going to pay for that asinine escape attempt. But right now we've got bigger problems. Your friend Morgan is out in the living room right now wanting to have a movie night with you. Was this planned? Did you give him a signal to come over?" Lou frantically asked Reid as he finally released both wrists from the cuffs.

"No, I didn't plan any of this. I had no I idea he was coming over," Reid said after Lou removed his gag.

They both stilled when they heard heavy steps making their way down the hall.

"Tell him to go back to the living room," Lou commanded with a whisper.

"I'll be out in a minute Morgan. It was just a nightmare. Go make yourself at home," Reid called out to his best friend as he sat up on the bed.

"Are you sure kid?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, Lou's helping me out. I'll just be a minute," Reid responded rubbing his cheeks to sooth the sore spots that the gag had left on his face.

The both sat with bated breath as they waited to hear Morgan change directions. When they finally heard the sound of receding footsteps Lou began to speak again.

"You need to get out there and convince him to leave as soon as possible."

"I can't guarantee that he'll do what I say. He never listens to me at work. What makes you think he'll listen to me now?" Reid questioned.

"Oh, you'll make him listen. I don't care if you have to kick him out, we need him gone. You've got ten minutes to make it happen or else I'm going to get involved," Lou threatened.

"Alright, alright," Reid acquiesced. "I'll try to play up how tired I am and hopefully he'll leave. But if he's here because he wants to talk he won't leave without speaking to me privately."

"Fine. It won't matter anyways because I can still hear everything you say. But I'll stay in the kitchen to keep an eye on you too, so don't try anything else stupid. Remember, you've still got hell to pay after he leaves," Lou said as he followed Reid out the bedroom door and down the hall to meet with the unwanted visitor.


	8. Time is Running Out

**Disclaimer: I do not make a profit from Criminal Minds and I certainly don't own it.**

**Thanks again for reading and reviewing. A special thanks to marcallie for pointing out a potential plot hole and giving me some suggestions to fix it. I really appreciate you all and the excitement you have for this story.  
**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Right before Reid left the hallway to walk into the living room where Morgan was waiting, Lou grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, "Remember, your job is to get him to leave in the next ten minutes or he's going to end up volunteering to become the next dead agent."

Reid nodded his head to indicate that he understood the directive. He shook Lou's hand free from his arm and walked into the living room to confront his friend.

Morgan immediately stood up from where he was sitting perched on the couch and said, "Reid!"

"Morgan, what are you doing here?" Reid asked as he watched Sam exit the room and head toward the kitchen to meet up with Lou.

"Well, after the conversation that we had this morning I felt the need to reconnect with my best friend…," Morgan began to explain.

Reid immediately felt a rush of guilt flow through his body. He knew his words earlier had offended his friends and he vowed to make it up to them when this was all over…if he survived.

"Look Morgan, I know you didn't like hearing what I had to say earlier but it wasn't meant to be a guilt trip. And I certainly did not mean for you to come over to my apartment tonight trying to repair a friendship that has been broken for a while," Reid said as he tried to skirt around Morgan to sit on the part of the couch that was wrapped in shadows.

Morgan's eyes followed Reid as he went to sit down and noticed the marks that Reid was trying to hide with the shadows.

"Reid, what are those marks on your face?" Morgan questioned with a hint of fury in his voice.

"What? What are you talking about?" Reid reached his hands up to his face and acted like he was feeling for the marks that Morgan had spotted.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, those marks around your mouth! God Reid, you act like I'm not an experienced profiler and that I don't know what gag marks look like. Come on man, we've seen the same thing on countless victims. Please tell me what is going on!" Morgan begged his dear friend.

"Morgan, you are wrong. I slept awkwardly and those are probably just marks from my pillow," Reid tried to convince him.

"No Reid, you are not getting out of it that easy. Let me help you. I can tell you're in trouble. Is it these guys you are hanging with now? Are they forcing you into something? You can trust me," Morgan spouted off at his friend relentlessly.

"There's nothing wrong Morgan, and even if there was you couldn't help me anyways," Reid responded as he slowly lowered his voice to a whisper trying to keep Lou and Sam from overhearing.

"Reid, do you and Agent Morgan need anything to drink? I could bring you two some beers," Lou interrupted from the kitchen, giving Reid a nudge to get rid of his friend.

"Ah, no. Agent Morgan was just about to leave," Reid called back.

He turned to Morgan and looked at him pleadingly with his big brown puppy dog eyes, "I need you to leave now. I'm tired and I can't deal with this on top of everything else."

"What do you mean 'everything else?" Morgan asked immediately after latching on to Reid's cryptic words.

"Nothing, I didn't mean anything. Just please go. You need to go," he stressed to Morgan, hoping his friend would catch on to his urgency and leave.

"Come on man, what am I supposed to do with all this pizza? At least watch the movie with me and get some food into your system. Maybe we could even talk about the 'everything else' after it's over," Morgan entreated.

"No, you really need to leave **now**," Reid tried to emphasize the "now" by standing up from the couch to usher his friend toward the door.

"But I bought an extra-large pepperoni, just like you like it!" Morgan argued as Reid opened the door to push him out.

"Take it to Hotch's for all I care. Just leave me alone," he said as he shut the door in Morgan's anxious face and pizza filled hands.

He quickly locked the door to prevent any attempt on Morgan's part to get back into the apartment. Then he leaned his back against the cedar door and closed his eyes. Relief washed through him knowing that his friend was out of harm's way.

The second he cracked open his eyelids his line of sight was filled with Lou's angry visage. Lou reached his hand around Reid's head and grabbed a fistful of his hair. He used his lock on the brown mane to steer his captive back to the bedroom.

"Don't forget you still have to pay for that pitiful escape attempt from earlier," Lou snarled as he flung Reid to the bedroom floor.

* * *

The second that Reid shut the door in Morgan's face he dropped the pizza and took off running down the stairs. He knew earlier that something was up with his best friend and what he just witnessed solidified his foreboding feelings. Reid was definitely into something deep and those two agents were involved. Unfortunately, in typical Reid fashion, he wasn't about to ask for any help.

Morgan decided to take matters into his own hands and hit speed dial as soon as he got out of the building.

"Garcia? Yeah, it's me Morgan. Look, I need to know every tidbit of information you found out about Reid's new friends," he demanded of his favorite girl.

"Why? What happened? Did you find out if those guys are causing trouble for my junior G-man?" she questioned frantically.

"Kinda. I was just over his house and he some suspicious marks on his face that alarmed me. On top of that, the way he answered my questions made me think he was trying to tell me something without tipping off the two agents. He also kicked me out of his apartment and slammed the door in my face. I've known Reid for about ten years and that was most certainly something that he would never do to a friend. I don't know what's going on Baby Girl, but whatever it is it can't be good. So, please send me that information as fast as you can."

"Well I'd do anything to help you save our danger prone friend and get to the bottom of his bizarre behavior. You will have your information in a jiff! Although, I was saving it until the morning because Hotch said we would all meet without Reid and discuss some of the things we observed today. But, I think your cause is excuse enough to release it early," Garcia said in her don't mess with my friends or you are going to feel my wrath voice.

"Well, I'm not sure it can wait until morning. You know what, are you still at the office?"

"Do hackers have code names?" she retorted.

"Alright, hold the information. I'm going to call Hotch and see if we can get everybody back in to go over what you've found and what I just went witnessed. See you in twenty, even if it's just me," Morgan said as he ended the phone call and drove off toward Quantico.

He hated leaving Reid alone with those two men, but he needed the rest of the team on board if he was going to attempt any sort of a rescue. He didn't want to try taking them on by himself and end up getting Reid hurt in the process. No, he didn't even want to think of that possibility. It was better for him to have backup to aid in the rescue he knew deep down was needed. Hopefully, everyone could come in and they could crack this mystery before the night was through. And maybe by morning Reid would be explaining to them what started this whole thing over a hearty breakfast at his favorite diner.

* * *

Reid let out a gasp as he watched his bedroom carpet come up to meet his face. He started trying to get up but felt a foot in the small of his back holding him down. He turned his head toward the door and saw Sam enter out of the corner of his eye. He watched as the man unhooked his belt from around his waist and pulled it free from all of the belt loops.

"Should we tie him up first?" Sam asked Lou as he folded the belt in half and snapped it.

"Not completely, just secure his wrists to the footboard," Lou instructed.

Sam set to work fastening Reid's hands to the footboard of his bed with a length of rope. Sam was secured him very low to the ground so that he was forced to stay on his stomach. All the while, Lou still stood above Reid keeping pressure on his back to ensure he stayed put.

"Alright, pull down his pants," said Lou.

"What? No! What are you doing?" Reid frantically yelled while twisting his already damaged wrists against the ropes trying to get free.

"Shut up! You brought this on yourself! Gag him while you're at it. We don't need his neighbors getting involved," Lou ordered Sam.

Sam used the same gag as the previous nights to silence Reid. He then set to work on pulling down Reid's pants. Reid wasn't giving in without a fight and started thrashing his legs around in all directions. He managed to land a few blows to Sam's body before he felt his pants slide down, leaving his lower half only clothed in boxers. Once his mission was accomplished Sam positioned himself at Reid's feet and locked his hands around the captive's ankles.

Lou lifted his foot off of Reid's back now that he was fully secured via the rope and Sam. He bent down and retrieved Sam's belt off the floor where he left it in order to do Lou's bidding.

"Since I don't want to risk damaging the vest I am going to give you twenty lashes to your legs. I hope next time you'll think twice before doing something so stupid," Lou said as he raised the belt high in the air.

Reid squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation and willed himself to not let out a peep. The first hit was excruciating! The metal buckle tore at this thighs and Reid could feel that a gash had been opened up. Try as he might Reid could not keep silent the whole time. He let out muffled screams throughout the beating, but the gag did its job and kept the sound inaudible to the surrounding apartments.

By the end Reid's legs looked like someone had taken a pitchfork and scratched the hell out of him with it. The belt buckle managed to wound him each time the leather strip was brought down, and as a result all of his cuts were oozing ruby red blood. There were tears of pain streaming down Reid's face and soaking the carpet underneath him. Reid strained to turn his head and look at his legs, and regretted that choice immediately. What he saw made his stomach churn and he had to fight the urge to throw-up. The pain was horrible, but seeing the damage was taking the torture to a whole new level. He was sure some of the marks would scar and leave him with a constant reminder of the suffering he endured. Of course, they could only scar if he survived this ordeal…

He felt Sam let go of his ankles and relished the freedom to move his legs. Unfortunately, the moment he tried to reposition he upset all his cuts and sent a fresh wave of tears leaking out of his eyes. Lou came over and stood above Reid observing the aftermath of the punishment he doled out.

"It's time to get you secured for the night. Sam and I still have to go out and take care of business. Since you are already on the floor, I don't see the point of moving you to the bed. We're just going to get you nice and comfortable down there where you belong," Lou said as he reached to release Reid's hands for a moment.

Lou made Reid flip over onto his back and sit up. He then retied Reid's hands around the post of the footboard with rope. He took an extra length and secured Reid's chest and neck to the same post, making it impossible for Reid to move an inch from the bed without chaffing some part of his body. The cruelest thing of all was when he took another length of rope and joined Reid's ankles together. He forced Reid to bend his knees, an action that cause intense pain to flow from his lacerations, and connected the rest of the rope to the same post as Reid's hands. When he was finally done it looked like he had arranged Reid's body in an upright fetal position, but without the ability to wrap his arms around his legs.

It was one of the most uncomfortable sleeping positions that Reid could ever imagine. Already he could tell his old knee wound would flare up from being bent for an extensive period of time against its will. He knew that sleep was not going to be his friend tonight due to the aching he was soon to experience, not to mention that his wrist was still injured, he at least twenty cuts and welts riddling his legs, hooks piercing his midsection and a bomb strapped to his chest. He could feel the tears of pain and hopelessness flow down his face as he watched Lou and Sam make their way out of the bedroom. He tried to hold in his sobs, but since he was alone he let them all out. The icing on the cake was that he knew the next time he saw them another agent would be dead.

* * *

"Alright, so we all agree that Morgan and I will enter the apartment first and clear the rooms. Rossi and JJ you'll follow behind and provide backup. Blake you are taking up position outside of the door to catch anyone who may try to escape. The local force will be positioned around the perimeter of the apartment complex to add support where needed," Hotch said going over the tactical plan they developed to save Reid.

Morgan was successful in rounding up all of his team members earlier that night. They had all gathered by ten o'clock and worked well into the early hours. Garcia shared out on Sam and Lou's backgrounds in the bureau and all the aspects of their personal lives. They found out that after Rossi refused to fund their business their plans fell through and they had to give up on their dream. Since then they worked really hard to advance through the counterterrorism unit and make a name for themselves. They were practically inseparable and there was even an apartment leased out in Lou's name that they seemed to be cohabiting. This information led to a storm of questions, such as why would Lou need to move in with Reid?

Then, Rossi added his input to the conversation by discussing his encounter with Reid earlier in the day. He described how Reid had described Sam and Lou as being organized and in control. He added in the other hints he thought that Reid was trying to give him throughout the discussion. Rossi told everyone how he had gone back to his office to try and investigate on his own, but came up with nothing.

Morgan weighed in on his experience at Reid's apartment that night and revealed the reasons he called this emergency meeting. He told them about the gag marks on Reid's face and how urgent Reid was to get rid of him. He informed them that Reid almost seemed to be imploring him to leave for his own safety, and was quick to push him out the door.

The team digested all the information and decided that it was time to interfere. The consensus was that Reid must have gotten himself caught up in a diabolical scheme developed by these two agents and now needed to be saved. All of them were secretly hoping that they were overreacting and when they stormed the apartment they would find their genius sleeping comfortably and safely in his own bed. However, none of them really believed that would be the case.

"Alright, it's about three in the morning now. We should be able to take them off guard and get immediate control over the situation. Have an ambulance waiting in case something goes wrong or Reid needs medical assistance," Hotch explained as he continued the briefing until he was interrupted by the ringtone on his cell phone.

"Agent Hotchner," he answered.

"Yes, I see…Okay, I'll send some agents over right away…It should be about forty-five minutes at the most," he said hanging up the phone.

"Okay, change of plans. Another agent has been found murdered and we need to get over there right away. I'm going to call Reid and have him get ready to go. Morgan, I want you to pick him up and take him to the crime scene with you. Try to talk to him and get him to reveal something. Regardless, once we get Reid away from these guys, we aren't going to let him go back. It's unfortunate that someone had to die in order to get Reid out of the clutches of these two guys safely," Hotch said before hitting Reid's number on the speed dial.

* * *

Reid had heard Sam and Lou leave earlier that night after they trussed him up to the bed. He wallowed in his pain and misery until his tears dried up and refused to fall. At that point he tried to rest his head against the post he was secured to but there was no way he could get comfortable.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed since Sam and Lou went out, but what seemed like hours later he heard their reentry. He could hear one of them flopping down on the bed in the guest room and the other must have taken the couch. They didn't even bother to check on him confident that he couldn't get free.

An unknown amount of time later he heard Hotch's ringtone blaring through the house. Next thing he knew Lou was kneeling in front of him undoing the gag. "Talk to him," Lou instructed.

"Hotch?" Reid answered into the phone that was put on speaker and held in front of his face. He knew what this phone call meant, and his stomach constricted with the prospect of finding out whose murder he failed to prevent.

"Reid, it happened again. This morning at about two-thirty Vanessa Anderson came home to her apartment after her closing shift at the bar and she found her brother, Agent Anderson, dead in the bathtub. The unsub/s followed the same MO as with Kevin, but this time there was no intention of covering it up. I need you to head to the crime scene to check it out. Morgan is coming to pick you up. He should be there in about fifteen minutes," Hotch's voice overwhelmed the room.

"Anderson….they killed Anderson. But he was so young and had his whole life ahead of him," Reid muttered, not bothering to give Hotch a response.

"Reid did you hear me? Morgan will be there in about fifteen minutes," Hotch repeated.

Lou shook Reid's shoulder urging him to respond. "Ah, no Hotch. That's okay, I don't need a ride. I'll take my own car and meet him there."

"It's too late for that Reid. He's already on his way to get you. Anyways, your apartment is on his way to the crime scene. I expect to hear from you two within the hour," Hotch said and abruptly hung up the phone.

"Sam!" Lou shouted down the hall. "Get out to your car and get ready to tail the doctor to the crime scene."

"You killed Anderson," Reid said to Lou in disbelief.

"Yeah, he kinda fit the pattern we were going for. He was a single male agent that had his whole career ahead of him. It's kinda like Sam and I did when we were trying to start our own business. In the end, we figure if we can't have our dream, no one else should realize theirs either," Lou explained with a smug look on his face.

"And you are going to kill me too…," Reid mumbled as he felt Lou releasing him from the post.

"Yeah, if you think about it, you fit the victimology too," Lou chattered on excitedly. "Now, once you get to the crime scene you should find all the evidence you need to implicate your fellow profiler. For one, we made sure to wear size ten and a half Italian loafers while we were in the apartment and we left multiple footprints for you to analyze. Then we left some hair samples we got from his office one night after everyone had left. You have all you need to seal the deal today, and you'll do it too. Or else we are going to follow through on one of our earlier threats, probably the one involving Henry since he is in the area and we have easy access to him. And if that doesn't get you motivated, I'm going to set the timer on the bomb for twelve hours."

Lou reached over and yanked Reid's nightshirt up revealing the hideous vest that was strapped to his chest. He inputted the data into the correct port and sat back in satisfaction. "It's official. You have less than twelve hours left in your miserable existence. I suggest you incriminate Rossi as soon as you can and get out of there, or else your fellow profilers are going to blow up with you," Lou emphasized as he watched Reid get up off the floor and begin to get ready for his part in the agents' grand finale.

"You know, I have just one question," Reid said from the bathroom where he was trying to push the pain aside in order to wash his wounds with a washcloth. "If I implicate Rossi before you kill me, how are you going to explain my death after he is taken in for questioning?"

"Ah, don't worry about that Doctor Reid. Agent Rossi always seems one step ahead of your team. He started suspecting that you were getting too close to connecting him to the crimes when you insisted that there was only one unsub. He set up some back-up plans to take you out in case he was arrested before he had the chance to do it himself," Lou said with an evil looking smirk spreading across his face.

Reid stepped out of the bathroom prepared and looked at Lou. He knew that this man had covered all bases, but he was still going to try his hardest to plant doubt in his team.

They both looked at each other when they heard the infamous triple knock Morgan always used at the front door.

"Showtime," was all Lou said as he escorted Reid out of the bedroom.

_11hrs 51min 39sec…_


	9. Incrimination

**Disclaimer: I do not own or make a profit off of Criminal Minds.**

**Please forgive any mistakes.**

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**Enjoy!**

* * *

Morgan could barely hold in his gasp when Reid answered the door. His friend looked like death warmed over. Reid's condition had clearly deteriorated since Morgan left to gather the team. Reid's face was extremely pale, forcing his friend's notorious raccoon eyes to look even darker than usual. The pale skin was the perfect canvas to show the marks from the gag that Morgan was sure he had been forced to wear. Reid's stance was strange because he kept shifting his weight from side to side as if to alleviate an unknown source of pain. And, what Morgan hated to see the most was how his friend refused to meet his eyes. Reid kept his head angled toward the floor looking at the discarded pizza box that Morgan had left there earlier.

Lou was standing right behind Reid so Morgan decided not to broach the topic of his friend's health until they were alone together in the car. "Come on kid. Let's go," was all Morgan said as he turned around to head down the stairs. He could hear his friend following behind him with timid awkwardly spaced steps, and Morgan began to wonder whether the kid was healthy enough to walk on his own. By the time Morgan reached the bottom of the staircase and looked up, Reid had only managed to make it down three steps. He looked like he was hanging onto the rail for dear life as he gently placed one foot at a time down on the next step in line.

"Um Reid, do you need some help?" Morgan asked his friend, knowing he wasn't going to get a truthful answer.

"What? Ah…no. I'm just really stiff. I couldn't find a good position to sleep in last night and now my knee is acting up," Reid said as he realized that what he told Morgan wasn't too far from the truth.

"If you say so…," was all Morgan said as he watched his friend hobble down the last few steps.

They made it to the SUV and based upon his teammate's condition Morgan felt compelled to get the door for him. Reid approached the passenger side cautiously and nodded his thanks to Morgan. Morgan held out his hand for Reid to grab in order to step up into the vehicle. Reid took advantage of his friend's kindness and hoisted himself up. He held back a yelp of pain, but he was unable to conceal his wince.

Again, Morgan held his tongue in regards to Reid's obvious injuries and decided to confront him when he was locked in a moving SUV. He shut the door and on his way to the driver's side and texted Hotch that he picked up Reid.

After about five minutes into their drive Morgan couldn't hold his questions in any longer, so he decided to bite the bullet.

"Alright kid, out with it. What happened after I left? You look like you've been through hell and back since I last saw you," Morgan asked.

"It's nothing, Morgan. Leave it alone. I'll be fine," was all Reid would say, still refusing to look his teammate in the face.

"It's not nothing Reid. It's obvious that you are injured. It's obvious that you are trying to hide it, and it's obvious that you need help. Stop being so stubborn and just ask for it already," Morgan said harshly getting frustrated with his obstinate best friend.

"I'm not being stubborn. I would ask for your help if I needed it, but I have everything under control."

"Like hell you do, Reid. Look at you! If I didn't know any better I would say you've suffered from some blood loss in the last four hours. You're so pale that you'd glow under a black light. I can see the red marks around your mouth and they remind me of that sinister smile the Joker always sported on the Batman cartoon. Come on, I know you were gagged. No matter what you say, you won't convince me otherwise," Morgan said as he turned his head to see if his words were getting through to his friend. Unfortunately, he had to settle for seeing his friend's reflection in the car window as they passed by the street lights. The look on Reid's face in those fleeting seconds was heartbreaking. His friend looked so sorrowful and morose Morgan just wanted to stop the car and wrap him up in a big bear hug.

When Morgan finished talking Reid reached his hand up to rub at his mouth wishing the marks weren't so vivid. He knew that this was going to be difficult, but with Sam listening in as he followed them to the crime scene he had no choice but to keep deflecting Morgan's concern.

"Don't worry about it Morgan. I'm a grown man and I know what I'm doing. Anyways, it will all be over with this afternoon," Reid said desolately, realizing too late that he slipped in giving Morgan a time frame to his own death.

"What do you mean it will all be over? You're not thinking about doing something stupid are you?" Morgan questioned a bit frantically worried about the despair etched in Reid's voice.

"No! It's just that Lou and Sam won't be around anymore after today. Lou said that it wasn't working out at my place and he was going to try to move back in with Sam for a while," Reid said quickly, knowing that Morgan would see right through his story. Thinking up a lie on short notice had never been his forte.

"I don't believe a word you're saying pretty-boy. What's going down today? Let me help you get through it. Heck, let me call the team and we all can help you," Morgan pleaded.

"No! You guys have got to learn that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself and my personal business. There are just some things that I can't share with the team and what is going on at home right now is one of them," Reid said with determination as the car pulled into the parking lot of Anderson's apartment building.

Parking the car Morgan reached over grabbed Reid's shoulder forcing him to turn in his seat. He felt his friend stiffen at the contact but that didn't deter him. He then stuck his hand under Reid's chin and lifted his face up in order to look him straight in the eye. "This isn't over Reid. We're all going to sit down when we get back to the office and talk. We won't let you go home until we're sure your safe," Morgan said with a slew of emotions backing his words. He needed Reid to understand that he wasn't alone.

Morgan launched himself out of the driver's side door once he had let go of Reid. He hoped that he had finally gotten through to his friend, but time would tell. It would be easier to talk to him when they got back to headquarters and the whole team was there to support him.

Reid sat there for a second after Morgan left the vehicle. He knew that his friends were worried sick, and with good reason too. He also knew that he would do everything he could to keep them safe, and if that meant sacrificing himself then so be it. "I wasn't planning on going home again anyways," Reid mumbled under his breath as he thought about the mechanism underneath his clothes counting down the last few hours of his life. With that he reached for the door handle and slowly crept down out of the SUV.

After jumping out Morgan decided to go around to the other side and help Reid. On his way around he heard a cry of pain and a thump. He raced around the SUV to find Reid on his hands and knees with the passenger side door wide open above him. He was taking ragged breaths and trying to steady his body.

"What happened?" Morgan asked as he went to help his friend up off the ground.

"I thought my foot was clear of the SUV and tried to bring it down but it caught on the door jamb. It made me trip and fall," Reid lied again. In reality, Sam got a little too trigger happy with the electrical shock after listening to the conversation in the car. He decided to remind Reid that his task was stay focused on swaying the case in the proper direction.

Reid used Morgan's hand to get up off the ground. His right wrist did not like the new abuse it received from breaking another fall and started its insufferable throbbing again. "Thanks. I'm good now," Reid said as he brushed off some dirt that had gotten all over his pants from the fall.

"No problem. Come on, let's get this over with," Morgan stated as they made their way to Anderson's apartment.

_11hrs 33min 01sec…_

* * *

Reid decided to take the elevator up to Anderson's apartment while Morgan opted for the stairs. He looked up after he pressed the button for the proper floor and saw Sam smiling at him while tapping his watch as the doors slid together.

Reid shuddered from the needless reminder and prepared himself to see the apartment of a man he felt responsible for killing. If only he had been smart enough to come up with a way out of this mess, than Anderson would still be alive. Why had his genius let him down all of a sudden? His brain was so muddled he couldn't think straight. He wasn't able to react fast enough to everything these agents were throwing at him. At this point, he felt that his only option was to see this through and implicate Rossi as the unsub. Then he could get far away from his friends and ensure their safety. He wasn't looking forward to dying, but he knew this was his fate. He also didn't like framing one of his good friends, but Rossi would end up being fine anyways. The team would easily be able to prove his innocence if they picked apart the evidence Sam and Lou planted.

The elevator dinged signaling the arrival at the fourth floor and Reid stepped out and immediately located the correct apartment. Derek was already standing in front of the door introducing himself to the local officer that had taken the lead on the investigation. Of course, now that it was revealed that Anderson was an agent the FBI would be taking the case over as its own.

Morgan looked around for Reid, and seeing him waved him over to his side.

"Let's get started," Morgan said as he turned and walked into the apartment.

They observed the living room and noticed that nothing seemed out of place. The two agents redirected their route toward the kitchen to see if there were any noticeable knives missing that could have been used as the murder weapon.

"The local officer said that the door lock was jimmied open with a crowbar. It's clear they weren't trying to hide their involvement this time," Morgan explained as they inspected the spotless kitchen. He walked over to the knife block and pointed at the empty slot where the butcher knife should have been located.

"He or she," Reid corrected Morgan.

"Huh?"

"You said "they" weren't trying to hide their involvement, but we still don't know definitively that this is the work of a team," Reid responded still fighting to change his teammate's mind about the unsubs.

"Alright, alright. Let's not get into this right now."

They continued down the hall to the master bedroom and saw signs of a struggle. The sheets and blankets were crumpled up on the floor like they had been tossed there after they were ripped off of Anderson's body. There were scratches on the hardwood floor, possibly from Anderson's fingernails as he was being dragged into the bathroom. The knife had been dropped beside the bed signaling the killer decided to discard it as he made his exit. Finally, they saw multiple footprints in blood exiting the bathroom and tracking over the hardwood floor until they faded down the hallway.

Reid cautiously stepped around the evidence on the floor and made his way into the bathroom. The body had been removed, but that didn't make the sight any less horrific to take in. The floor was saturated in Anderson's blood. Sam and Lou must have known the correct way to slit a wrist was to make a vertical slice to the skin and not a horizontal one. There were again multiple prints scattered around the floor, some from the EMTs and some from the unsub. Luckily, the EMTs made sure to put rubber-bands around the bottoms of their shoes to distinguish their prints from those of the unsubs.

"Morgan, come look at these shoe prints. I know I've seen these types before. They're some sort of loafers and if I had to guess I would say they are size ten or ten and a half," Reid said as he held a dollar bill next to one of the footprints, acting like he was comparing it to get the shoe size.

"Reid, of course you've seen them before. What type of print haven't we seen?" Morgan asked rhetorically.

"True…," Reid trailed off. "Hey, did you notice that there is only one type and size of shoe print in the blood. If we had two unsubs what is the likelihood that they both would wear the exact same shoe?"

"Well, what if one of them was acting as a lookout in the living room?" Morgan replied.

"Yeah, I guess that could be true too," Reid said, frustrated that Morgan was being so difficult to persuade to his side.

"Hmmm, this is interesting. It kinda looks like there are two sets of prints here anyways. Look, the spacing between this set of prints is different from the spacing between those," Morgan said pointing to two different sets on opposite sides of the tub.

"Maybe at some point he was rushing to get Anderson in the tub which threw off his natural gait."

"I don't know man. Let's make sure we get pictures of these back to the team and see what they think," Morgan continued feeling irritated that his friend was determined to fit the evidence to his one unsub profile.

They spent a little longer looking at the crime scene and Reid conveniently found the planted hair clumped around the base of the tub.

"Looks like Anderson put up a fight against his attacker," Reid said as he used some tweezers to put it into a plastic baggie and handed it over to another agent for processing. The remorse he felt as he said that sentence was overwhelming. Anderson had to put up a fight against Sam and Lou because he hadn't. The guilt was tearing him apart and starting to eat at his soul. Even if he was able to get out of this how could he live with the knowledge that his weakness led to Anderson's death? The answer was simple, he couldn't.

"Good, I hope he got those, um that bastard good. If we're lucky he marked the unsub up from the struggle," Morgan said with pride for his coworker in his voice.

"Yeah," Reid said as he made his way out of the bathroom. "We need to get back to the office. I need to talk to Hotch about something."

_9hrs 58min 35sec…_

* * *

The ride back to the bureau was relatively quiet. Immediately upon arrival Reid scurried up to Hotch's office and stood outside his door preparing himself to incriminate his fellow agent. The whole time he was chanting in his mind, "I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this," but Reid knew that there was no turning back at this point.

Reid tentatively knocked on Hotch's office door. He waited to hear a call signaling for him to enter. The room was dark with only a small desk lamp providing illumination. "Um, Hotch. I need to talk to you about the case."

"Do you want me to gather the team?" Hotch asked him as he looked up from the paper work that seemed to consume his desk.

"No," Reid said quickly. "I don't want the other's to hear this yet. I need to run something by you, and I need you to keep an open mind about it."

"Alright, take a seat," Hotch said gesturing at a chair situated across from his desk.

Reid ignored the offer to sit and started pacing the office trying to decide how to begin.

"Reid? What is it?" Hotch asked him concerned with his clearly displayed nerves.

Reid turned to look at Hotch and decided to just let it out. "Hotch, I think Rossi's the unsub."

"Reid, that…" Hotch began to say before he was cut off by the rambling genius.

"No Hotch. Let me finish first. I gotta get this out before I lose my nerve. Look, after looking over Agent Anderson's apartment I saw some irrefutable evidence that points toward Rossi. First there was the shoe imprints. When I was working with Rossi a while back on that case with the trucker trying to find his little girl a suitable mother, we had to inspect a ditch. It had just rained and the ground was still wet. I couldn't help but notice Rossi's shoes because he refused to get them muddy by climbing down in the ditch, so he made me do it on my newly healed knee. I got a good look at those precious shoes that day and saw that he wore a size ten and a half. Just like the shoes at the crime scene. And try as he might that day he still stepped in some mud and left an imprint. It looked exactly like the ones at the crime scene but in blood," Reid spouted in his hurry to get this over with.

"But Reid…" Hotch tried to interrupt again but the genius was not having it.

"No, there's more. Who was Rossi targeting? Think about it. He was targeting young men who were moving up in the organization. Perhaps he was feeling threatened by their upward movement and wanted to make sure his place was still secure on the team. I did hear Strauss talking about having to eliminate some of our overpaid agents to reduce costs in the BAU. Maybe Rossi thought that if he got rid of the up and coming competition his spot would be secure. Now, I'm not sure how Kevin fits into this picture. Possibly he stumbled upon some information that pointed toward Rossi and that's what got him killed," Reid said as he made up all of this information on the spur of the moment. He continued pacing not bothering to look at Hotch, too ashamed of all of the lies that were spewing from his mouth.

"I see what you're saying but…"

"Finally, I found hair at the scene that upon inspection could easily pass for Rossi, and I'm sure when it comes back from being analyzed it will solidify my argument. Hotch, what are we going to do? We've got to interrogate him and find out where he was during each of the murders. From there we can start building the case. See I told you guys it there was only one unsub. I just can't believe it's someone we trusted," Reid ended his speech and finally decided to look up at his boss.

Hotch stood in silence for a few moments staring at Reid. When he decided to speak Reid was taken by surprise, "Reid, it couldn't have been Rossi. He was here last night helping us formulate a plan to rescue you."

9hrs 12min 59sec…


	10. Home Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned the show, then it would only be Reid-centric episodes.**

**Thanks everyone for staying with me. I went on vacation this past week and that's what caused the big delay in updating. Again many thanks to everyone who commented, especially my two faithful commenters, tea-is-liquid-wisdom and annber03, I adore reading your thoughts! Also,much love to anyone who decided to follow or favorite my story.**

**Please forgive any mistakes.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"What?" Spencer squeaked out incredulously.

"Reid, last night after Morgan left your house he called the team together to discuss what happened. We all met here and plotted how to get you away from those guys," Hotch explained to Reid, surprised by his colleague's reaction.

While Hotch was talking Reid ran over to the window of Hotch's office and wrenched open the blinds. There was a panic signal going off in his mind and he needed to locate Sam and Lou as quickly as possible. Reid knew that Sam and Lou had been listening to the conversation. He was worried about their reaction to the fact that the incrimination of Rossi was a bust.

"Shit," he roared uncharacteristically as he watched the backs of the two agents make their way to the elevator doors. Reid knew that they were getting out of there in order to detonate the bomb early due to his failure. Without a second thought, Reid ran out of Hotch's office to get to the elevator before the doors closed with a deadly finality.

He raced down the stairs and through the bullpen with a speed that he hadn't had to attain since his high school days. He used to have to run this fast to flee the various bullies that harassed him daily. That prior high school experience also helped him push through the pain from his injuries; for there was many times that he had to run for his life with wounds that were trying to heal.

The sprint to the elevator seemed to take a lifetime, but in reality it was only seconds later that he was passing by Blake's desk. Unfortunately, his remaining teammates were gathered there discussing the case and they all paused to watch the commotion. He put his head down and bypassed Blake's desk to avoid one of them trying to stop him to find out was wrong. At one point he thought he heard his friends call out to him in concern, but he ignored their cries and maintained focus on his mission.

By this time, the agents had boarded the elevator and Sam was rapidly tapping the "Door Close" button to prevent him from joining them. Startled, he almost stopped for a moment when he heard a yell for security being shouted by Hotch from his office door. Reid wasn't sure if Hotch was calling security on him or to help him, but decided not to stick around to find out. He almost missed the elevator, but he was able to thrust his slender body through the narrow opening left in the doors.

He tried to skid to a halt once he entered the tiny compartment, but ended up barreling into the back wall. Luckily, he caught himself on the waist-high bar fastened in the wall to help the elevator's occupants maintain balance. Grateful that he had gotten on the elevator in time to save his friends from a violent blast, he took a deep calming breath to ready himself to face the music. After he felt the elevator start to descend, Reid cautiously turned around to face the agents. Before he even successfully completed his one hundred and eighty degree turn he felt a fist crushing against his jaw and he fell to the floor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lou said with so much vehemence that even Hotch would have cowered in fear.

Reid looked up ready to spout out an equally venomous answer when he felt the swift kick to his right temple which instantaneously knocked him out.

* * *

Hotchner was extremely surprised by the young genius's accusation against Agent Rossi. It took him a few moments to wrap his head around Reid's words, but when he did he knew he had to squash this inaccurate theory.

"Reid, it couldn't have been Rossi. He was here last night helping us formulate a plan to rescue you."

"What?" he heard Reid respond with an intonation of disbelief.

"Reid, last night after Morgan left your house he called the team together to discuss what happened. We all met here and plotted how to get you away from those guys," Hotch clarified.

He watched as Reid forced the blinds open and scoped out the bullpen. He heard an unexpected curse issue forth from Reid's lips before the agent sprinted out the door without as much as a word of explanation.

Numb with shock, Hotch hurried to the office door in order to find out where Reid was going. He watched as Reid flew past his colleagues and made a beeline for the elevator where Sam and Lou seemed to be waiting for him.

Was Reid caught up in a plot to frame Rossi? Why would he participate in such a dastardly scheme? Was he harboring some ill will toward his fellow agent? Sure Rossi initially found Reid annoying and bothersome, but it seemed like that had cleared up years ago. Hotch made a split second decision to call for security because he needed some questions answered.

"Security! Someone stop that elevator!" Hotch yelled out.

The team looked at him with surprise written all over their faces. Their glances bounced back and forth from Hotch to the occupied elevator like a cat watching a laser pointer flitting throughout a room. No one was sure what to do, go after Reid or demand an explanation from Hotch. The decision was made for them moments later when the elevator doors slid shut, cutting off access to the younger agent.

"Round table room. Now!" Hotch bellowed to the remaining team members. "Garcia, get security on the elevators. Don't let Reid and those guys get out of the building."

"Hotch, what's going on?" JJ asked with worry weaved into her words as she raced up the stairs to join him in the meeting room.

"Take a seat everyone. Morgan, did Reid tell you about his theory?" Hotch ignored JJ's question and got down to business.

"No. Wait…what theory? He just said that he wanted to talk to you as soon as we got back. At the scene he was still trying to fit the evidence to support his one unsub theory though. I tried to get him to keep an open mind, but he was really obstinate about it," Morgan explained, his eyes were searching Hotch's face for any hint as to what transpired in his office.

"Alright, well I know why he has been trying to convince us that there is only one unsub," Hotch took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on the oldest profiler, "He was trying to frame Rossi."

"What?!" Morgan piped up. "No. There's no way he would do something like that."

"Hold on a second Morgan," Rossi said with an eerily calm demeanor while holding up his and signaling the profiler to calm down, "Let's hear Hotch out."

"Reid came in my office acting more nervous than usual. He wouldn't sit down and said that he didn't want to reveal his findings in front of all of you. He went on to accuse Rossi of being the unsub and tried to give me all sorts of evidence to support his claim. I tried to interrupt him multiple times but he was in full lecture mode. After he finished I told him straight out that he was wrong. You should have seen the look on his face; it was like terror and confusion all rolled up into one. I tried to explain why he was wrong but he ran over to the window and opened the blinds. I think he saw that Sam and Lou were leaving and he panicked. He ran out of my office and into the elevator with speed that I didn't know he even possessed. I don't know what is going on, but I think that the case, Reid's strange behavior, and his new friends are all tied together somehow," Hotch explained while running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"So, you called security to…," JJ trailed off waiting for Hotch to finish his explanation.

Hotch, pacing the room just like Reid had done in his office answered, "Stop them. We need to get them in interrogation rooms and have them answer some questions."

"Come on. You really can't think Reid is a willing participant in all of this. Think about what I told you last night. I know he is being forced to cooperate. Once we get him safely away from these guys I'll bet he comes clean about what's been going on," Morgan said trying to defend his best friend.

"We won't know until we talk to him," was all Hotch would say.

At that moment Garcia bustled into the room with a look of defeat on her face. "Security called and they weren't able to stop them from getting off the elevator in the parking garage. I tapped into the cameras to see where they went but not all of them were functioning. It looks like they split up though and I have some agents trying to track them down."

"What do you mean all the cameras weren't functioning? That can't be normal for multiple cameras to malfunction in a specific area all at the same time." Blake said with doubt.

"I agree, but it seemed someone might have tampered with the program that runs the security cameras. Oh, and I got some footage from the elevator. You guys have got to see this," she said as she set up her laptop in a spot where all of them could view it easily. "Watch," was all she said as she hit the play button and stepped out of the way.

* * *

Lou glared down at the knocked out agent and said, "We need to move on to the back-up plan."

"What back-up plan? You never mentioned one before," Sam asked him. "We should just leave him in the elevator, send it back up to the BAU's floor, and set off the bomb. Everyone would be so focused on the explosion that we could just walk out of this place."

"No. I have a better plan. I'm still not giving up on paying back Agent Rossi. Even now that the plan is blown we can still hit him where it hurts. We've got his fellow agent at our disposal. Let's use that to our advantage," Lou stated as he bent down and cuffed the unconscious Reid's hands behind his back.

"Okay, how?"

"Hand me your cuffs and key," Lou demanded as he lifted up Reid's pant legs, revealing his ankles. Lou retrieved the cuffs from his partner and attached them to Reid's scrawny ankles. Usually one needed larger cuffs to bind legs together, but Reid's slim limbs made that unnecessary. "I'm going to kill the kid. Only, I'm going to make sure Rossi has a front row seat to his death."

"I repeat, how?" Sam said with a hint of frustration.

"We need to split up to throw them off our trail. We should meet back at his apartment and prepare for the end. I'm thinking we use him to lure Rossi to the apartment and set off the bomb killing both of them. We'll just station ourselves across the street and watch the action," Lou said with a self-satisfied smirk knowing that he still wasn't fully addressing Sam's question.

The door to the elevator dinged open and Lou reached down, picked Reid up, and threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Get to your car and meet me at the apartment," Lou ordered Sam like he was his subordinate.

He watched Sam sprint away to follow his instructions without a second thought. He quietly said, "Good luck."

He stayed in the shadows as he made his way to one of the department issued SUVs. He opened the hatch and none too gently threw Reid into the back. Knowing which cameras were working and which ones weren't, Lou drove out of the FBI garage leaving no clues as to where he was really headed.

* * *

The incomplete team stood silently as they watch as Sam and Lou boarded the elevator. "It looks like they didn't want Reid joining them," Rossi observed as Sam button mashed the "Door Close" button.

Seconds later their genius flew through the doors and smacked right into the back wall. He clutched the support bar and took a deep breath. The glares that Sam and Lou were directing at him were fierce and menacing. Reid turned around and received a blow to his jaw that sent him tumbling to the floor.

They watched as Lou said something to Reid and the glare he received in return. It looked as if Reid was going to respond when Lou's booted foot nailed Reid in the temple, knocking him out. The vicious attack elicited a few gasps from the viewers, but the team kept watching. The conversation between the two men seemed heated but controlled. They watched as Lou cuffed Reid's hands behind his back and then gave his ankles the same treatment with Sam's cuffs. It seemed as if Lou was the dominant partner and that he was issuing orders to Sam based on the man's subservient face. The doors finally opened and Lou picked up Reid effortlessly. The last thing the camera caught was the two men going in opposite directions, presumably to their respective cars.

Morgan was the first to break the silence, "Well, I think it's safe to say that Reid is an unwilling participant in all of this. Damn, how does the kid manage to get into these situations?"

Hotch turned a grim face toward Garcia and asked, "Why is there no audio?"

"I guess the FBI only wanted to semi-invade our privacy. None of the cameras in the building have audio. Too bad none of us can read lips," she replied sheepishly.

"What do we do now?" JJ asked with heightened worry after seeing her friend kidnapped again.

"We go to Reid's apartment," Rossi answered. All eyes turned in his direction demanding an explanation. "Rewind the tape Garcia. There stop. Watch Lou's lips and tell me he doesn't say apartment."

Everyone watched with eagle eyes focused on Lou's lips.

"I think your right Rossi. But how can we be sure they're headed to Reid's?" Hotch questioned.

"We can't be certain, but it's a start. Look, I'll take Morgan and go to Reid's apartment. You guys can go and check out Sam and Lou's residence," Rossi offered.

Hotch nodded his agreement and added, "Contact us the minute you have anything."

"Wait, we still haven't decided how all of this is connected," Blake halted them with her words.

"Once we bring them into custody and make sure that Reid is safe and sound we will connect the dots," Hotch said with finality as he exited the room with his agents following after.

* * *

Sam pulled into Oakgrove Apartments and rushed up to Reid's floor. He immediately unlocked the door and inspected the all the rooms. He had arrived before Lou and decided to use the restroom. It took him a bit longer than expected to take care of his business, but as he was finishing he heard the front door creek open.

"Finally," Sam muttered with relief. He was really anxious to find out how they were going to persuade Rossi into showing up at the apartment. He zipped up his pants and washed his hands before reaching for the door handle.

"It's about time you arrived...," Sam trailed off when he realized that there was a gun aimed at his face.

"FBI! Get down on the ground," shouted an angry Agent Morgan.

Stunned with this turn of events, Sam slowly lowered himself onto his knees, put his hands up in the air, and frantically looked past the agent as if he was expecting a savior to come to his rescue. Rossi, noticing Sam's glances, asked him, "Are you expecting someone?"

Sam decided his best option was to keep his mouth shut and turned his gaze to the floor. Morgan roughly cuffed him and stood him up. "Where's your partner? Where's Reid?" he shouted in Sam's face.

Maintaining his silence, Sam allowed them to frog march him out of the apartment without any resistance on his part. He gave up looking for Lou at that point beginning to realize that all along he too was a pawn in Lou's revenge fantasy.

8hrs 33min 23sec…

* * *

The black SUV crunched over the gravel driveway as it made its way to its final destination. The bound agent in the back had awoken a few hours ago but Lou ignored his moans and grunts. At one point Reid had even tried ask him questions but Lou slammed on the breaks flinging the defenseless prisoner into the seats that were in front of him. He heard a loud groan issue from his captive and smiled at the renewed silence that emanated from the back of the vehicle.

The sun was out and shining bright in the clear blue sky. It really made the nature that was currently surrounding him shine with a brilliance that only Mother Nature could display. Right now the greenery was a vibrant color that contrasted vividly with the air above him. Slowly the trail he traveled down revealed a quaint cabin sitting a few miles off, secluded and alone. The cabin was surrounded in flowers of all types and shades. There was some sort of ivy crawling up the side of it making it look like a structure right out of a Thomas Kinkade painting. He felt compelled to open the window to inhale the intoxicating scent that nature had created.

Lou had always wanted a cabin to retreat to when the work week took its toll. He was a little bit jealous that the scrawny kid in the back of his SUV didn't even have to work for it; it just fell in his lap. What made him really angry though was the fact that the kid never used it. He was going to have to ask him why while they waited for the special guests to arrive.

Lou slowed down the SUV as he made his final approach to the cabin. He parked it right out in front, not seeing any point in trying to hide the vehicle from sight. He exited the SUV and made his way around to the back. He opened the hatch and looked down at the bound agent. He grabbed Reid under his armpits and hoisted him up into a sitting position with his legs hanging out of the vehicle.

"Where are we?" Reid ventured to ask, unsure as to whether or not Lou would answer.

"Home sweet home," Lou taunted as he hoisted Reid over his shoulder. "I'm sure when Agent Gideon left you this place he wasn't expecting it to become your grave."

5hrs 48min 55sec…


	11. Is That Legal?

**Disclaimer: I love the show, but I don't own it :(**

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, adding, and following!**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Sam found himself sitting in an all too familiar interrogation room in the FBI headquarters. He felt so stupid for letting Lou play him as easily as he did. How could he have been so blind as to not see Lou's true intentions? He willingly followed everything Lou said without giving it a second thought and look where it got him, a sparse interrogation room with handcuffs attaching him to a metal table.

He should have seen it coming after their team dynamic changed so quickly. It wasn't even a week after Rossi rejected them that Lou approached him with his plot for revenge. Sam, angry about the rejection, figured why not. Who else had a better chance of exacting revenge than two experienced FBI agents? So over time they plotted and planned out how they were going to get their vengeance. Initially, Lou let Sam take the lead. Sam was the one to make first contact with all the victims, he was the first one to approach Reid, and he was the dominant partner the night they accosted the young agent in his apartment. But slowly, Lou began to take control of the plan. He started going off script and he never bothered to fill Sam in on the changes. Over the last few days, Sam could tell that Lou was up to something, but he didn't confront his partner. As they say, hindsight is always twenty-twenty, and now Sam was kicking himself for being so gullible.

"Agent Cruz! Pay attention," Derek Morgan said as he snapped his fingers in front of Sam's face to pull him back into the moment.

Morgan and Rossi both volunteered to interrogate Sam. Morgan wanted in because he was as worried as hell about his best friend, and Rossi wanted to confront one of the men trying to soil his good name. Hotch was a bit concerned about sending Rossi in due to his conflict of interest, but he decided to see how it played out. If at any time Hotch thought that Rossi's participation in the questioning would jeopardize the case against Agent Cruz, he would simply pull him out of the room.

Sam steadied his gaze on Morgan and waited for him to deliver his question again.

"Where did Agent Pierce go after you split up in the parking garage? Where did he take Dr. Reid?" Morgan said with overwhelming urgency.

Sam's face broke into the largest grin possible. He wasn't completely stupid. He knew that if he gave up any information to them now there was no way he would get a few years shaved off his sentence.

"I want a deal," was the only thing he said in response to Morgan's question.

"No! No way! We don't make deals with guys like you," Morgan was quick to say as he stood up from his seat in anger and began to pace the room.

"If you don't give me a deal, than I won't give you any information," Sam said with self-satisfaction. He knew he had the agents backed into a corner. If they made the deal they would feel guilty that one half of the duo will get off easier than the other, but if they don't make a deal their friend could potentially die.

At that point Rossi got up and grabbed Morgan's elbow. Wordlessly he escorted his fellow agent out of the room in order to confer with the others that had been listening in on the questioning.

"I think we should make a deal with him," Rossi began the conversation.

"What? Why?" asked Morgan.

"Well, we've already been in there with him for over half an hour and we haven't gotten anything out of him," Rossi said as he turned to fetch a coffee from the stand conveniently stationed in the room.

"I agree," said Blake. "Sam is an FBI agent. He knows that we have plenty of evidence to convict him. So he knows that his only way of reducing the amount of time he spends in prison is by getting us to cut him a deal for information. He isn't going to just hand to us if we ask nicely."

"Alright, I'll get it approved. Get in there and make the deal," Hotch said with his no nonsense voice as he walked out of the room on his mission.

"You all right to go back in there?" Rossi asked Morgan concerned about his earlier display of anger.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine. I just want to get Reid back in one piece," Morgan replied following Rossi back to where they were keeping Sam.

"Okay, let's go," Rossi said as he opened the door to the interrogation room once again.

* * *

"…and that's when we split up. I went to Agent Reid's apartment and waited for Lou to show up. The rest you know," Sam concluded leaving out a few key pieces of information.

Rossi sat there and processed everything that Sam had just revealed. He couldn't believe that his refusal to fund a business had set off this horrific chain of events. There seemed to be something missing though from Sam's explanation. "That's quite a story. But you forgot to mention one thing, where is Reid?"

Sam gave off a little chuckle and leered at Rossi. "Oh Agent Rossi, I never said I knew where he was. You just assumed I did."

"You have got to be kidding me," Derek roared after hearing the news.

"Calm down Agent Morgan," Rossi said in a voice meant to sooth the other agent's emotions.

"Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down when this guy played us for a deal? You never had any intention of helping us find Reid did you? You just wanted to make sure that your ass wouldn't have to sit in jail for the rest of its life," Morgan snarled getting face to face with Sam.

Again Sam let loose that smug smile and responded to Morgan, "Well agent, there are two things I did neglect to mention that may be helpful to your cause. But, I'm going to want another deal. I want to be able to choose which facility I'm sent to and in which state. That's all I'm asking. I promise the information is worth it."

"You really expect us to fall for that again? Come on Rossi, we don't have time to waste on this. We need to find Reid now," Morgan said as he crashed out of the doorway without looking back.

"How right you are agent! You really don't have any time to waste," Sam called out to the backs of the retreating agents. The door closed with a thunderous roar and Sam was positive that they would come back and make the deal. He let out a sigh realizing that he had done all he could to make his next few years behind bars as tolerable as possible.

* * *

"What do we do now?" JJ asked looking through the two-way at Agent Cruz with contempt.

"I don't know, but I sure as hell don't want to play into his game again," Morgan replied clenching his hands to release some rage.

"I know that he didn't give us the whole story, but the information we do have now is invaluable," Rossi said in a ponderous voice.

"Rossi's right. We now know who committed the murders, the motive, and how Reid is involved. Now we just need to do a separate profile for Lou to try to discern where he would take Reid to prepare for the final showdown, so to speak," Blake offered in support of her fellow agent.

"I can't believe this whole time Reid was in danger and he never let us help him. I mean, I could tell something was up with him immediately, but he kept pushing me away," Morgan stated with concern and hurt lacing his voice.

"He pushed us all away Morgan. It wasn't just you. You heard what Sam said. Reid was told they would kill us all if he tried to reach out to us. You know that once Reid heard that he was never going to put us in jeopardy. It's in his nature to protect us first and think of himself second. Though, remember he did try to give Rossi some clues during their conversation. He was trying to get help the only way he knew how, by using his words to leave us with some breadcrumbs of information. We just need to follow the breadcrumbs as best as we can to find him," Hotch explained.

"I agree that we need to analyze all the information as a whole, but I don't think Sam is lying when he says that he has some more information that we'll want to know," Rossi interjected into the conversation. "I don't see the harm in making this second deal. He's still going to jail. So what if he gets to pick his location."

"It's the principle of the thing Rossi. He knows he is playing us. What if the information turns out to be something stupid like Lou's dog's birthday?" Derek quickly answered.

Hotch looked at Rossi and asked him, "What was the last thing that Sam said before you two walked out?"

"He said that Derek didn't know how right he was, and that we didn't have any time to waste. That sounded like a thinly veiled threat to me," Rossi said, catching on to Hotch's concern.

"Alright, so I'm not the only one who doesn't like the way he said that. I'm going to make the deal. I would rather be safe than sorry. Anyways, who says that we can't put a clause to the deal saying that if the information is bullshit than the contract is null and void. We'll just make sure he doesn't read the fine print," Hotch rationalized to the team.

"I like where your head's at Hotch," Rossi said.

* * *

Instead of sending Morgan in again Hotch took his spot. "Here's your deal. Sign it and let's get this over with."

Sam briefly scanned the document, signed his name, and pushed it away.

"Well?" Rossi asked.

"I'm not sure which piece of information to tell you first," Sam answered leaning back in the chair and putting his hands behind his head.

"Why don't you explain what you meant when you said we had no time to waste," Hotch offered the seemingly relaxed agent.

"Oh that, I guess that's as good of place to start as any. Alright, well I wasn't kidding when I said you don't have time to waste. Last night when you called to tell Reid to get ready to go inspect Anderson's apartment, Lou decided to activate the timer on the bomb vest. He gave your agent twelve hours to live. Ahh, let's see…that was at about three something this morning. Looking at the clock now, I'd say you have little less than six hours left to find him."

They all heard a sudden thump coming from the other side of the two-way mirror. Hotch assumed it was Morgan taking his fury out on the bulletproof glass instead of Agent Cruz.

"You mean you knew all this time that we were working under a clock and you didn't tell us," Hotch demanded taking a cue from Morgan's fury by adding more force into his voice.

Sam shrugged not affected by Hotch's intimidation tactics, "Yeah, well…I needed something to hold over your heads."

"Alright, tell us the rest of the information that you are withholding," Rossi said trying to steer the conversation back on its much needed path.

"Well, this one is a bit more of a theory as opposed to an actual fact. The night we first met your agent we discussed how he didn't have a choice but to help us. We told him that no matter what he was going to die. If he helped us he was going to get to choose the location of his death, and if he didn't we would just set off the bomb with all of you around. Now, Lou must have made the choice for your agent. In the elevator he said he had a back-up plan that would still get his revenge on Rossi. He was dead set on using Agent Reid as bait or something. Anyways, when we were having that initial conversation he gave Reid an example of a place he may want to die. It's possible that's where he took him…," Sam trailed off.

"What was the example?" Hotch demanded.

"I remember him saying something about a cabin, not sure whose it was though," Sam answered.

"Gideon's cabin," Hotch whispered with realization.

5hrs 48min 55sec…

* * *

Lou threw Reid down on the couch in the living room and took the easy chair across from it. "So tell me, how come you never use this place?"

Reid did his best to push his body up into a sitting position but the pain it caused was too much. He decided that maybe laying on his side would be a better position and curled his legs up to his chest instead.

"Well?"

"I…uh…I don't really get much time off of work to come up here," Reid said hesitantly.

"Nah, I think there's more to it than that," Lou taunted. "I bet it's because after Gideon left you it hurt too much to be among his things. Am I right?"

Reid refused to answer, even though this guy already seemed to know the truth anyways. How did Lou know all of this information about him? He gave him a searching look trying to distinguish how he knew.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I did my research. I know all about your mentor leaving you high and dry to fend for yourself. I know that you got the deed to this place in the mail a few months later, possibly as a peace offering. I know that the only time you have ever set foot in here was when you retrieved the letter he left you. And I know that that letter left you with more questions than answers. It's funny if you think about it really. If Gideon wouldn't have up and left ya'll than Rossi would have never replaced him as part of your team. You wouldn't be in this situation, and I would have never needed to exact my revenge," Lou revealed to Reid, liking how he was still able to place the blame for everything on Reid's former mentor.

Instead of dignifying Lou's revelations with a response, Reid tried to flip himself to face the back of the couch.

"Come on now, don't do that. We need to discuss how you want to live out your last few hours," Lou said like he was trying to appease a small child.

"Just leave me alone," Reid barely whispered in response.

"Sorry agent can't do that," Lou said as he maneuvered over to the couch and forced Reid to sit up and look at him.

"Look, as I see it your team will be on the way here anytime now. Your life is only going to last a few more hours. Do you want a last meal? How about we go out to the dock and sit in the sun? I saw a path leading into the woods that we could explore. Oh, you could read a good book out on the back porch. Come on, there has to be something you want to do." Lou purposely antagonizing the agent and was eager to get a reaction out of him.

"My team is on the way? How do you know?" Reid perked up at the mention of his teammates, out of both concern for their lives and the prospect of being rescued.

"I'm sure by now that Sam has spilled his guts to them and they've probably put two and two together. I've been planting seeds this whole time now; he'll direct them in the right direction," explained Lou with unwavering confidence and a bit of amusement in his voice. "Oh and seeing as it takes about three hours to get up here in good traffic you had better hope your team has left already. Honestly, I need to contact Gideon when all is said and done and thank him for choosing a place so isolated that the only option your team has is to drive here."

"How much time do I have left?" Reid asked quietly. To Lou it sounded like he was almost afraid to hear the answer. Nevertheless, he needed to because he wanted to calculate the amount of leeway his teammates had to come and help him.

As a response, Lou unexpectedly tackled the defenseless agent to the ground. Reid landed on his back with his hands trapped underneath him. Lou straddled him and jerked his shirt free of his pants in order to expose the vest. Reid tried to buck the agent off of him, but it was useless in his weakened state. Seconds later he felt Lou's weight leave his body as the agent towered above him.

"You have a little over three hours now. Better hope your team hurries," Lou said sardonically as he lifted the struggling agent off of the couch and dragged him into the master bedroom in order to begin setting up his trap.

* * *

The team had been on the road for at least a half hour now. Before they left they had Garcia use a satellite to view Gideon's former retreat. There was an unmistakable black government issue SUV sitting out in front, which according to the license plate had been leased out to Agent Pierce. Using the satellite view as confirmation the team headed out without a minute to spare.

Hotch looked at his phone to see he had an incoming call from his bubbly technological analyst.

"Garcia?"

"Sir, after you guy's left me here alone I got to thinking about how I could help," Garcia began the moment Hotch picked up his phone. "I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a way to turn off the bomb vest remotely. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no way that I can use my supreme carnal knowledge and technical skills to come up with a way to do it using only my programs. But it got me thinking about borrowing a government weapon to do it for me."

"Government weapon? Is this even close to being legal?" Hotch questioned stoically.

"Um…well…it's for a good cause, Sir."

"Out with it," Hotch said.

"Well, sir, have you ever watched Goldeneye?" Garcia asked.

"What? Garcia, we don't have the time for a movie review," Hotch admonished her swiftly.

"No, that's not it sir. Listen. There is a scene in the movie where the bad guys are hacking into all the banks in England to transfer the money to their own bank accounts. They planned on setting off an EMP, you know electromagnetic pulse, after they completed the job to erase any record of their dastardly doings. EMPs! They are an easy way to shut off all electronics within a certain mileage. So, it got me thinking what if I "borrowed" one of the government's non-nuclear EMP weapons and aim it at the cabin. We could easily shut off the bomb vest and prevent Lou from escaping using a vehicle. What do you think? Sir?" Garcia explained with breathless excitement.

"Nuclear...this doesn't sound safe or legal," Hotch said doubtfully.

"Non-nuclear! Look, I'm going to see what I can do and call you back," Garcia dismissed him and hung up without waiting for any confirmation.

"Hotch, what was that all about?" Morgan asked from his spot in the passenger seat.

"Garcia has come up with an incredibly outlandish plan that may or may not be legal," Hotch explained.

"Will it help us rescue Reid?" Morgan asked.

"If she's right….then yes."

"Well, all I can say is…that's my Baby-Girl," Morgan said with a small smile.

2hrs 45min 27sec…


	12. The Back-up Plan

**Disclaimer: If I win the lottery than maybe I'll own it, but until then I don't make a profit off of it :(**

**Sorry it took so long for this update. I had a mean case of writers block and it took me forever to sort it out. By the way, the story is all going to come to a head in the next chapter...so look forward to that!**

**Thanks to anyone who commented, followed or added the story!**

**Tea-is-liquid-wisdom put your worries aside, I would have added that warning in my summary if I intended to do that :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Reid thrashed his body as best as he could while Lou was dragging him down the cabin's hallway. The man had him gripped by the armpits which allowed Reid to rock his body from side to side. Unfortunately, his struggling turned out to be pointless in deterring the other agent, but Reid wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he didn't try something.

Unceremoniously he was dropped down onto the master bedroom floor. With his cheek flush against the hardwood all Reid could see was the dust bunnies that had gathered underneath the queen-sized bed. He tried to wiggle his way to his knees but felt a foot push itself into the middle of his back forcing him to maintain his position.

"Just stay there," Lou ordered as he cautiously lifted his foot off of the immobilized agent.

Reid knew it was useless to push the issue so he decided to comply with his abductor. The aching in his body was brutal and being carelessly dropped to the floor only inflamed it more. He closed his eyes and focused on keeping his breathing steady even while he tried to push the pain to the side.

When he got his breathing under control he began to focus on listening to Lou's preparations. Across the bedroom came the sound of metal hitting metal, possibly chains. He opened his eyes only to see a metal manacle and its chain come flying toward his face under the bed. It smacked him right between the eyes and sent his head flying backwards as a result.

"Oops, sorry, Dr. Reid. I guess I got a little careless with that. Watch out for this one, wouldn't want it to nail you where it really hurts," Lou said with a bit or laughter behind his words as he chucked another manacle and chain under the bed strait for a spot that would make any man cringe. Luckily, there wasn't as much momentum behind this toss and it missed his body by a few inches.

"Let's get you on the bed," Lou said as he came around and lifted Reid up onto rustic bed. He made sure Reid was on his stomach and in the center.

"What are you going to do?" Reid asked, not really liking where this was going.

"Ah, well. I want to make sure your team has to work to get access to the bomb. With you chained down on the bed, they'll have to work to get you free before Morgan can even get an opportunity to defuse the bomb. So, really…this is just my way of making sure they waste precious seconds. That is, if they get here in time in the first place," Lou smirked as he unfastened the cuffs around Reid's ankles and secured a manacle to each one. Lou had measured out the amount of the chain well, because the length that was attaching the manacles had no slack. As a result, if Reid moved one foot the other would be shifted to compensate, meaning that getting off the bed was not an option.

Lou moved to Reid's wrists and started to give them the same treatment. What he wasn't counting on was Reid flipping onto his side in order to fling a punch right into Agent Pierce's face. The punch caught Lou in the nose and sent him toppling to the floor. With his hands free Reid pushed himself up onto his knees and looked around for anything that could help him defend himself. He saw a gun on the nightstand, thoughtlessly left there by Lou. Reid stretched his body and tried to reach it with his right hand, but he came up a bit short. He could hear Lou moaning on the floor and he knew he was running out of time, so he tried to scoot his ankles up the bed to give him more leeway, and it worked. He stretched out again and felt the cool metal on his fingertips.

Suddenly he felt a fire rip through his skull and his hand fell away from his salvation. Lou had gotten up from the floor and used the manacle intended for Reid's left wrist to knock him over the head. Reid felt blood trickling down his forehead and some of it got in his eye. Heedless of the blood he tried reaching for the gun again and was thwarted. Lou had jumped on the bed and straddled his waist in order to get a grip on his elbow. He tried to buck him off but Lou was able to wrench his right arm down to his side and he kneeled on his swollen wrist. Reid let out a cry of pain and struggled to free his arm. Knowing that he was back in control, Lou commandeered Reid's left arm and enclosed his wrist in the manacle that was intended for it all along. Switching out his hand for his knee, Lou kept Reid's right arm pinned down as he crouched down to retrieve the other manacle from under the bed. Once he had successfully recovered it he clamped it on Reid's injured wrist successfully restraining the agent to a bed again. Finally, he decided it would be best to wrap one more chain around the agent's waist to keep him from even minimally turning on his side.

"That was a good try Dr. Reid. I wasn't sure if you still had it in you, but it'll do you good to know that I always win in the end," Lou said tauntingly as he tested the chains, making sure that his captive was secured.

Reid flipped his head toward Lou and breathed through clenched teeth. "This can't all be about money," Reid said. "There must be another reason that you are so intent to see me dead and Rossi damaged."

Lou chuckled in response and said, "So you're finally catching on…"

"What is it? What is the other factor that is driving you down this path of destruction?" Reid forced out as he tried to blink some of the blood out of his eye.

"You know Dr. Reid, I've been following your team for quite a while. In fact, I was interested in you guys long before I ever approached Agent Rossi for help with the business. I've done a lot of research and I found out quite a bit about you and your friends. For instance, I know that your father left you and your mother when you were ten. I know that Agent Rossi likes to get married, but can't manage to stay that way. I even know all about your ability to attract trouble," Lou said as he kneeled down to get at eye level with the bound agent. "Let me ask you this, do you think that your life would be any different if your dad had stayed in the picture?"

"What?" was all Reid could say worried about this topic that seemed to come out of left field.

"Do you think that you would still be who you are today if your father would have stayed with you and your mother?"

"I...I don't know. His leaving made me stronger and more determined to show my mother that I wasn't weak…" Reid trailed off not wanting to get into his personal life so much.

"Would you have still joined the FBI to become a profiler? Or do you think that you might have done something more worthy of your talent?" Lou kept prodding him.

"I don't...I just don't know, alright! I'm sure that a lot of things would have turned out differently. But he did leave and here I am," Reid said as he turned his head to face the other direction.

Lou got up and walked to the other side of the bed, undeterred by Reid's avoidance tactic. "Well, I think my life would have been dramatically different if my dad would have been in it. See, you and I have something in common. We both grew up without our fathers, except where you had at least ten years with yours, I had none. My mother never really gave me any details about him, so when she died a few years ago I decided to snoop through her things. You wouldn't believe what I found out…I discovered that my father was a famous FBI profiler named David Rossi."

Reid sputtered out in disbelief another, "What?"

"I know that was my reaction too. I couldn't believe it. She saved all these newspaper clippings with him in them, she had all his books, and she had a diary that detailed her pregnancy and the first few years of my life. In the diary she went into how it was just a one night stand, and she met him because he interviewed her as a witness to a case. She tried to get into touch with him to let him know the result of their steamy night, but he never returned her calls. He never even knew I existed because he couldn't be bothered to pick up a phone. I grew up without a father because the man didn't think twice about the consequences of sleeping around," Lou said with the anger in his voice increasing after every single sentence.

"I'm sure if he would have known about you that he would have done the right thing," Reid said, trying to placate him.

"Ha! I highly doubt that. You know, I joined the FBI just to get close to him. I was going to confront him and tell him who I was when the opportunity presented itself. I hoped that going into business with me and Sam would bring that opportunity to the forefront, but he had to blow me off again," Lou explained now pacing back and forth beside the bed.

"What does this all have to do with me?" Reid said from his position on the bed.

"You…you! You took my rightful place. I've been watching you guys. I see the way he treats you. You're a part of his family. I know that he was there to help you after your girlfriend died. He was genuinely worried about you like a father worries about a son. But I'm his son, not you! So I'm going to do the only thing that will make him finally take notice of me…eliminate you," Lou exclaimed as his anger reached its peak.

"But won't your plan be ruined if Rossi dies in the explosion that you have planned for me?" Reid asked.

"No, he isn't going to die. He'll run out before it blows-up, saving himself but leaving you behind…just like your father. Because deep down he knows, just like your dad did, that in the end you're not really worth it," Lou sinisterly whispered in his ear trying to deliver a lethal blow to Reid's confidence.

"No! You're wrong! The only way any of them would leave me behind is if I tell them too. Even then I'm not so sure if they'd go," Reid said with a bit of hysteria in his voice. "Anyways, it's not going to matter. They're going to get here in time and we're going to arrest you. You'll see," Reid said trying to show Lou that he couldn't shatter his fragile confidence.

"Shut up! I've heard enough out of you. 'My team will save me...blah, blah, blah.' I timed it just right for them to get here, have a little hope, but then realize in the end that they won't be able to stop the inevitable. Here, do you remember this?" Lou asked as he held up a black length of cloth. "This should keep you quiet." Lou fastened the gag tightly into Reid's mouth and then held up another piece of cloth. "Did I mention that I know about your fear of the dark too?" he asked a silenced Reid before he cloaked him in darkness too.

* * *

Lou stomped out of the bedroom locking it from the outside. It was just another thing to try to slow the agents down when they got here.

He really hadn't planned on disclosing all of that information to Reid, but in the heat of the moment he couldn't stop it from flowing out. The anger and resentment that he felt for Rossi ran deep and it felt good to get it out of his system.

After washing the blood off his face from the hit Reid delivered to his nose earlier, he decided to stretch out on the couch in the living room and take a nap. It had already been a long day and he wanted to be fully aware when it came time to enjoy the end of his plan. He set the alarm on his phone and adjusted his position.

One of the things that he loved about this cabin was that the previous owner, Jason Gideon, had installed an amazing home surveillance system. He knew that if he misjudged the time it took for the team to arrive that the system would awaken him. It went off whenever any car hit the driveway, which itself was a few miles long. With that heads up, he would have plenty of time to get out of the cabin, conceal himself out in the woods, and watch the fireworks. He even had a car hidden a few miles away waiting to whisk him off after everything calms down. Furthermore, Lou hadn't been too cocky as to not devise a back-up plan. If for some reason the agents arrived extremely early all Lou had to do was set off the bomb using the remote detonator before Rossi got into the house. All in all, he felt like he was in a pretty good position to exact his revenge on his estranged father and his surrogate son.

* * *

"Garcia, do you have any developments?" Hotch asked her with urgency in his voice.

The agents were roughly a half hour away from the cabin and the atmosphere in the car was getting tenser by the second. Their worry for their team member steadily increased as they left the main roads and started down a long stretch of gravel and dirt. Knowing that they were getting closer to their destination, Hotch decided that an update from Garcia was in order to help determine the best way to approach the cabin.

"Well sir, I've been able to access the tools I need in order to shut off all electricity in the immediate area of the cabin. But, if I'm going to utilize this wonderful tool, I need to do it before you guys get any closer," Garcia explained.

Hotch stopped the SUV underneath a canopy of black walnut trees. All of the subsequent vehicles behind Hotch's were forced to pause underneath the breathtaking scenery. "Why do you need to use it now? Won't that give us away?" he asked her not bothering to question her on the legality of the tool again.

"I have to do it now because I am not one hundred percent certain how far the EMP will travel and I don't want your cars to become useless heaps of metal. Anyways, it will seem like a simple blackout has occurred at the cabin. Perhaps Agent Pierce won't think anything of it. Well, unless he takes a trip out to his car…where he will find a useless heap of metal. It's a chance we have to take sir," Garcia said in her usual faster than lighting speaking pattern.

"Alright, our current position is roughly a half hour out. Do you think that is enough distance for us not to be affected?"

"Well, there's no time like the present to find out…" Garcia chattered. "Should I hit the button?"

He took a deep breath and said, "Do it," hoping he made the right decision.

43min 21sec

* * *

Lou wasn't sure what woke him up but he got the feeling that something wasn't right. He glanced at his watch and noticed that his alarm would be going off momentarily, so he picked up his phone to cancel it.

He was a bit surprised to find that the phone itself was completely out of battery. He knew that he was out in the middle of nowhere and chalked it up to the phone exhausting itself by roaming to find local towers. Stretching he decided to go check on his prisoner down the hall.

Lou sauntered down and unlocked the door. He looked in the room to find that nothing had changed. The agent was still restrained to the bed with his head turned away from the door. He could see Reid's abdomen rise and fall from each intake of breath. It was so steady that Lou wondered if the doctor had fallen asleep.

"How you holding up, Dr. Reid?" he asked knowing full well he couldn't get a response. There was no reaction from the agent, not even a twitch.

"Hm…maybe he did fall asleep," Lou said aloud hoping to wake Reid up. He noticed a change in the breathing pattern and took that for success.

"Ah, well, I'm going to head on out now. It was a pleasure working with you. I would say let's do it again sometime but I don't think you'll be able to," Lou mocked as he closed and locked the door.

Wondering how much time he had to spare Lou glanced at his watch again. "That's strange," he murmured to himself noticing that his watch hadn't changed time since he woke up. He walked into the kitchen to look at the clock on the stove and saw that it too was turned off. He dashed over to the light switch and flicked it on and off uselessly because the power refused to flow through it.

Lou's bad feeling from earlier started creeping its way back down his spine. So, he grabbed his car keys and decided to check the SUV. He rushed outside and thrust the keys into the ignition. He turned the keys and got no response from the car. Yelling out multiple curses Lou took the keys to the inoperable car and threw them into the grass.

Whatever was happening was definitely not a coincidence. This had to be the work of those profilers. Somehow they figured out a way to disrupt all the electrical signals at this cabin. If he had to guess, he would say that that technical analyst had to be behind it all. Furiously Lou rushed back inside the cabin and down the hallway. He flung the door to the master bedroom open with so much force the doorknob made an indent in the wall behind it. Lou could see Reid's body take on a tense posture anticipating the wrath that was clearly radiating off of him. He undid the chain that was wrapped around Reid's waist and roughly pushed his hips to the side as far as he could. He lifted up the doctor's shirt and looked at the vest.

"Damn it!" Lou yelled out seeing that the vest was not immune to whatever it was that disturbed the electricity.

Reid let out a muffled noise and shook his head, trying to dislodge the blindfold to see what was going on. All he heard was the outcry from Lou and then his retreating footsteps down the hall. He kept shaking his head hoping to be able to see but he couldn't even jostle the suffocating strip of cloth. He even fruitlessly tried to shake off the manacles but all that did was send burning pain up his already injured arms. Moments later he heard the sound of determined footsteps approaching the bed once again.

"Your team may have thought their trick prevented your explosive death. But I like I said earlier, I always win in the end!" Lou hissed as he shoved the agent onto his side and rammed a knife into Reid's exposed abdomen.


	13. Into the Woods

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except those diabolical characters Lou and Sam.**

**SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! I had to revise a portion of this chapter. There is not a new chapter yet, just this one with a mistake fixed. Thanks criminally charmed for pointing it out!**

**One more chapter to go!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Lou trudged out of the bedroom and relocked the door. He was pissed off that he wouldn't get to see his bomb vest in action and he had to rely on a more barbaric way to eliminate his competition. Unsure of how much time he had to play with he decided to hightail it out of the cabin.

He made his way into the forest of black walnut trees and took up his spot behind some brush. Lou knew that it was foolish to linger, but he really wanted to see how the agents reacted. If his aim was true than the young man should bleed out slowly, giving him only a few precious moments with his teammates when they arrived. It would totally crush the agents' spirit knowing that they were too late to save the young one. Lou knew that at this point he wasn't going to be able to injure Rossi physically, but he was comforted knowing that the man would be suffering some mental anguish.

He found the lookout spot that he had set up a few weeks ago when he came out and prepared the cabin as a back-up plan. It provided the perfect vantage point to watch the agents arrival and for when they had to load the doctor's shrouded body into the ambulance. He really looked forward to witnessing all of the sorrow and commiserating that will be happening when the ambulance pulls away with its sirens off, signaling that its occupant is already gone. Lou would wait until all of the FBI agents packed up to make his way to his getaway car, which was hopefully not affected by whatever shut off all the power. If it wasn't working than he was going to have a long walk ahead of him to get back to civilization. Either way he'd survive, it was in his nature.

As he hunkered down for the show he started devising another plan to get back at his father. There was no way he was letting Rossi off the hook that easily.

* * *

He'd been through quite a bit over the last few days, but nothing he had endured so far could compare to the searing pain that the knife sent through his abdomen. He was totally taken off guard by the stab and really couldn't get pass the pain in order to analyze the action. Unfortunately, he was still chained down by his wrists and ankles so putting any pressure on the wound was out of the question. Instead he opted to keep his body flush against the mattress hoping that the bed linens would absorb and maybe staunch the blood flow.

In the back of his mind he knew that this stab wound was a fatal one. Abdominal wounds have a tendency to allow the victim to bleed out, usually at a pace where the sufferer can feel their own demise. He could currently feel the blood oozing out of his body and realized the wet pool it had formed was encompassing an ever growing portion of the bed.

He still struggled against the chains holding him down, but deep down in his obstinate mind he knew it was futile. Still, stranger things have happened. Who was he to say that one of the manacles might not miraculously unlock and free his much needed hands? So, he kept up the fight for a few more minutes until he realized that he was doing more harm to his situation than good. He finally settled down and decided that at this point staying still was his best option.

Ignoring the pain issuing through his body he began to ponder what caused Lou to stab him. All he remembered was Lou waking him up out of an uncomfortable sleep and saying a sarcastic goodbye. Reid had figured that his captor was going off to find a spot to watch the show, which meant that he was going to have to sit tight and wait to be rescued. Out of nowhere he heard the front door slam open followed by the bedroom door shortly thereafter. The loud entrance put Reid on edge and he couldn't help but tense up while he waited to see what had Lou so fired up. He felt the release on his abdomen when the chain encircling it was removed. Confused, Reid had allowed Lou to push him onto his side and felt him inspecting the bomb vest. It was the sudden curse that really worried Reid and caused him to try to remove the blindfold to see what was happening. Silence followed his struggles and he heard Lou leave the room again. Some relief flooded through him thinking that Lou had just left after speeding up the timer once again. It wasn't until Lou was whispering those sinister words that Reid realized that something bad was going to happen, but restrained as he was he couldn't do anything to stop it. It was then that he felt the sizzling pain flow through his abdomen as a result of Lou's furious stab.

Lou's stressor must have been something caused by the bomb vest. Was the vest malfunctioning? Wouldn't a malfunctioning vest cause it to go off unpredictably? No, that couldn't be it. Lou would have let it stay the new course and rolled with it. The only other explanation could be that somehow the vest had turned off. That would explain the rage and the hasty stabbing. Yes, that must be what happened. Maybe his team was behind the vest turning off…wouldn't that be funny.

Reid had to suppress a few chuckles at the thoughts of Garcia somehow spoiling all of Lou's fun. Regrettably, the suppression of those laughs caused his stab wound to flare up in burning pain. Reid tried to weather the agony as best as he could, but he could feel himself slowly drifting off. There was only so much stress a body could take, and his had finally reached its allotment. After a few more heavy breaths taken through his nose and mouth he gave into the fathomless black hole that was unconsciousness.

* * *

The amount of mud that covered the SUVs that pulled up into the front yard of the cabin was comparable to a pig in its pen. The SUVs had been moving so fast down the road they kicked up enough mud and dust to turn the black vehicles brown. It had been raining on and off all day which caused the drivers to use their skill set in order to maneuver the muck covered roads without spinning out into a tree.

The team had left shortly after Garcia informed them that she had emitted the EMP signal. Everyone held their breath waiting to see if their vehicles would be affected, but thankfully their engines kept on humming. Without a second to waste, Hotch threw the SUV in drive and depressed the gas pedal all the way to the floorboards. His SUV peeled out of its spot. He paid no heed to whether or not the back-up cars were behind him. Hotch's urgency was fueled by knowing that even though the bomb may have been remotely defused Reid wasn't out of the woods yet. If Lou were to figure out that the vest was disarmed than he might try to take Reid out in a different fashion. Under no circumstances was Hotch going to allow that to happen. Reid was going to come out of this alright and in once piece!

Due to Hotch's fearless driving his SUV arrived first and ten minutes earlier than they had estimated. The SUV had barely come to a stop when Morgan jumped out and rushed up to the front door. Feeling the same urgency as his fellow agent, Hotch left the keys in the ignition and sprinted out of the vehicle. They were both positioned on the porch ready to open the door when the other SUV carrying Blake, Rossi and JJ pulled up. Hotch silently motioned to Blake and JJ to go around back to cover any possible exits Agent Pierce might utilize. Rossi joined the two men at the door and prepared himself to back them up.

Morgan gave Hotch a look that said, "Let's get this fucker," and bashed the door open with his foot. Hotch ran in the open door and began to clear the open space before him. Morgan spread into the kitchen area and Rossi cleared the living room. Wordlessly, Hotch gestured his gun toward the hallway and Morgan took the lead. There were three closed doors taunting them in the hallway, one on the right, one on the left, and one positioned at the apex. Morgan checked the knob on the first door and found it locked. He backed up and effortlessly opened the door the only way he knew how, with his foot. It slammed open and revealed a bedroom. The room was untouched and there was a light layer of dust on the objects. The other two agents glanced in the room, saw that it was clear, and continued down the hall. The next door they opened was the one on the left and found a recently used bathroom. There were water droplets in the sink and drops on the counter beneath the hand towel. Knowing that either Reid or Lou had used the bathroom recently heightened Hotch's awareness. Turning around and meeting the gaze of his two fellow agents they all set eyes on the final doorway.

Again, Morgan took the lead holding out hope that they would finally find their friend behind the ominous doorway. He carefully inspected the knob and noticed that the locking mechanism was controlled from his side of the doorway. The only reason someone would install a lock on the outside of the door would be to keep someone, Reid, in the room. Morgan put his hand on the knob and looked at his fellow agents nodding his head to indicate he was about to open the door.

The moment that the door was thrust open the agents poured into the room. A gasp was issued out of someone's mouth, none of them were aware who was responsible for it. There on the bed lay their coworker, friend, brother, and son. They could clearly see the restraints that were holding him down, the gag that was silencing him, and the blindfold that ensured he was encased in darkness. Infuriated, Morgan hustled over to his friend and called out his name. He immediately removed the blindfold, knowing what that wretched thing had done to his friend psyche. He continued calling his brother's name trying to get him to open his eyes, but received no reaction. He fumbled with the gag that was silencing his friend; wincing as he wondered how many times Reid had tried to call out for help to only be prevented by the black cloth.

While Morgan was busy trying to rouse Reid, Hotch and Rossi began to inspect his manacles. "We need a key or some bolt cutters," Hotch told Rossi.

"I'll look for a key," Rossi replied as he exited the room in search for some sort of release for his friend.

"Reid! Reid, man. Open your eyes! It's me, Morgan. Your safe now Reid. Hotch and Rossi are right here too," Morgan said with worry trying to shake his friend awake. "Hotch, he's not responding."

"How's his pulse?" Hotch asked mirroring Morgan's worry.

"It's shallow and thready," Morgan answered after putting his index and middle finger against the pulse point on Reid's neck.

"That's something. We need to get him off this bed. Rossi, have you found anything yet?" Hotch called out to the elder agent.

There was no answer and Hotch looked up with mild concern. "Rossi?"

Rossi came back in the room and held up his empty hands. "There's a tool shed around back that I'm going to check out," he said before he vanished from the room one again.

Right after they heard the front screen bang shut a garbled moan issued from the injured agent on the bed.

"Reid? Come on kid. Wake up," Morgan coaxed his friend.

Reid's eyes blinked open and he took in the view. Standing right in his line of sight was his best friend; at least he thought it was his best friend. His vision was blurry, perhaps an aftereffect from being hit in the head by the manacle earlier.

"Morgan?" came a whispered response from a clearly dry throat.

"Yeah, it's me kid. Stay with me now. How are you feeling?" Morgan asked, knowing it was a stupid question, but he needed his teammate to stay awake.

"Hurts," was all Reid could manage to get out.

"Where?"

"…just left"

"What kid? Your left side?" Morgan asked confused by Reid's response.

"…ent Pierce," Reid said.

"Agent Pierce just left?" Morgan's head shot up and looked at Hotch.

"Y-yes," was the one word response they received.

At that moment Rossi came into the room holding a pair of bold cutters. "I found these out back. Just give me a minute and I'll get him free."

"Good, work on that and get the EMTs in here immediately. Morgan and I are going after Agent Pierce," Hotch announced to Rossi.

"How do you know he's even around?" Rossi asked as JJ and Blake entered the room and caught a glimpse of Reid. Both women were too shocked at the appearance of their friend to even join in the other agents' conversation.

"Reid just told us. You all stay with him!" he yelled on his way out the door with Morgan not far behind him.

"JJ, let the EMTs know it's safe to come in," Rossi said as he set about freeing his friend.

"Reid, stay with me," Blake said taking over Morgan's prior position.

"Tired…" Reid muttered before he finally passed out again.

"Reid! Reid! Something's gotta be majorly wrong with him Rossi. I don't see any reason for him to be passing out like this," Blake said her face etched with concern.

"There," Rossi announced as he cut the last bit of chain holding the agent down. Right then the EMTs rushed in the room and forced the agents out of the way.

"We need to turn him," one of them yelled out.

"Alright, on the count of three. One…two…three," the lead EMT said and they turned the agent over to prepare him for the stretcher.

"Oh my god," issued forth from Blake's lips when she saw the bright red blood covering the bottom of Reid's shirt.

"It looks like a stab wound to the abdomen," the EMT said lifting up his patient's shirt for a better look. Underneath the button-down they saw the gaping wound left by a rather large knife, and inches above it was the bomb vest. "What is this?" the EMT said pushing the shirt up higher.

"It's a bomb vest," Rossi said matter-of-factly. The EMT that was closest to Reid jumped back like the bomb was about to explode. "Don't worry about it we took it out of commission before we got here. Focus on his injury," Rossi assured them.

"Alright," the EMT said hesitantly making his way back to the young agent. Together the two EMTs transferred Reid to the gurney and proceeded to strap him in avoiding the wound in his abdomen.

As they were wheeling him out of the bedroom Reid suddenly reawakened and tried to sit up.

"Reid, it's okay. Relax, we got ya," Rossi tried to soothe the seemingly confused agent like he had when his colleague had woken up confused after a hypnosis session.

"…L….Lou…s…son…," Reid was able to spit out before he blacked out again.

Blake looked at Rossi with bewilderment at Reid's words, "Did he just say that Agent Pierce had a son?"

"I don't know. It sounded like it. I don't remember any reports saying that Agent Pierce hand any children. Call Garcia and have her look into it. We wouldn't want to be abandoning a child somewhere without any help," Rossi told Blake. To be honest, he wasn't that concerned about any offspring of Lou's at the moment. The agent couldn't be that irresponsible to leave a child unattended while he went on this crazy escapade. Right?

Once the Reid's gurney was placed in the ambulance Rossi hopped on in, not giving Blake or JJ the option. "I'll meet you guys at the hospital. Stay and back up Morgan and Hotch. I'll call if there is any change in Reid's condition," he managed to say before they shut the doors.

JJ and Blake just watched the ambulance leave with fear in their eyes for their fellow profiler. They knew that there wasn't anything they could do if they left now, so they both turned back to wait to hear from Hotch and Morgan via their headpieces.

* * *

Lou was absolutely delighted watching the agents prepare to storm the cabin. He loved the worry and fear he saw in their mannerism. It was hilarious to watch Morgan race out of the vehicle ready to plow through the door and save his friend. The only thing that would have made this moment better would have been if the bomb was working.

It was a bit disappointing knowing that he wouldn't be able to see their reactions when they found Reid, but he could just use his imagination to fill in the blanks. Lou watched as the women were assigned to walk around back, and then he saw the men enter the cabin. It took about five minutes for Agent Rossi to reappear. He watched as his father made his way back to the tool shed, probably looking for something to help release the immobile agent. Minutes later Rossi reemerged with some bolt cutters and went back in the house.

Ahh, yes. Soon he would get to watch the agents wheeling out their dead or dying friend. He would imprint their sorrow, especially Rossi's, into his memory so he could relish it for the rest of his life.

Unexpectedly Agent Morgan and Agent Hotchner burst out of the front door. He watched as Morgan scanned the yard and set his eyes exactly in his direction. Morgan pointed at something in the ground and gestured at Hotchner. Suddenly he took off running right for Lou's spot. Quick on his feet Lou bolted out of his hiding spot and started flying through the woods. Luckily he knew a route that would take him to his backup car. He just hoped the other agents weren't as fast as him.

Morgan and Hotch emerged out of the cabin and halted for a second. Morgan looked over the yard trying to discern which direction that asshole might have gone. It didn't take long for Morgan to spot the footprints in the grass. Thank god it had been raining all day! The rain soaked grass clearly showed the treads of footprints leading off in a westerly direction. Signaling to Hotch, Morgan took off at a run.

Morgan, keeping honing in his senses on the forest around him heard a commotion not too far ahead of him. He saw a dark figure jump up out of some brush and start fleeing in the opposition direction. He knew it was Agent Pierce, so he drew out his gun. Unfortunately, the agent was too far ahead of him to make discharging his weapon an option.

"Hotch! Straight ahead," Morgan yelled to his unit chief.

"I see him," Hotch replied and began to spread away from Morgan taking his own route through the tree maze.

The agents were pretty evenly matched with Lou, always keeping him in their sight, but never fully catching up to him. Never once were they able to get a good shot. For they had to be more concerned about dodging fallen limbs, undergrowth, dead animal carcasses, and tree trunks. The one thing that Hotch didn't manage to avoid though was a covered tree stump. He put his foot down in what he thought was a pile of dead leaves and didn't expect a solid stump to be underneath. Needless to say he was caught off guard, which threw off his running stride, and he ended up in a crumpled heap on the forest floor. Morgan saw his unit chief fall out of the corner of his eye and started to jog over to him.

"No! I'm fine. Keep going and don't lose him. I'll catch up to you in a minute," Hotch yelled waving Morgan off and encouraging him to leave him.

Morgan hesitated not wanting to leave a man down, but it was the "That's an order," bellowed from Hotch that set him off after Lou again.

Morgan continued following behind the escaping agent, but it began to get more difficult. Lou sensing that the agents weren't getting thrown off by his running began to dodge and duck in strange places. At one point he even had the balls to shoot off a few rounds in Morgan's direction, missing him each time. So he continued on running, bow beneath low hanging branches and skirting through some thick brush. He even tried to hide behind a tree to make Morgan second guess where the agent was headed.

Lou was beginning to feel winded because one doesn't do much running in counterterrorism. He knew his car wasn't that far ahead and he allowed burst of strength to surge throughout his system. With that added energy he ended up putting more ground in between him and the pursuing agent.

There it was up ahead! The car was waiting patiently for his arrival. He finagled the keys out of his pockets while jogging the last few yards. He threw open the door and propelled his body into the driver's seat. With some wishful thinking he turned the keys.

Nothing.

Not even the sound of the car trying to turn over.

"FUCK!" Lou exploded.

He jumped out of the car and looked to see which direction to run. He picked his route and started running when all of a sudden he was plowed over onto the hood of the vehicle. Morgan came out of nowhere and tackled him like a linebacker would a receiver.

Lou let out an "oof" in surprise and pulled his fist back for a punch. He landed one right into Morgan's jaw but it didn't seem to faze the determined agent. Morgan delivered a punch of his own to Lou's nose, which was already sore from earlier. A burst of blood issued forth and ran down into his mouth. Lou started spitting it out of his mouth all over Morgan's face. Undeterred Morgan hit him again trying to subdue the criminal underneath him.

Seeing an opening, Lou wound back his arm for another punch and nailed Morgan right in the kidney. Taken by surprise Morgan dropped off of the agent in agonizing pain. Lou took advantage of his pursuer's incapacitation and started to run again, thoughts of using his gun again lost from his mind.

* * *

Rossi was in the ambulance hold Reid's hand while the EMTs worked on trying to stabilize him. They had already inserted an IV for fluids and other medicine and they were now focused on stemming the blood flow from the stab wound. It was hard to tell how much blood the kid had lost, and it seemed like gallons were flowing out of him with every second that passed.

Rossi didn't know what to do except for squeeze Reid's hand tightly to assure him on his subconscious level that he wasn't alone.

Beep…beep…beep…beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeep…

Reid had abruptly flatlined after ten minutes into the drive. The EMTs worked frantically to revive him and were on their fifth round of shocks when Rossi decided to call the others.

"Yeah, JJ it's bad. He's flatlined. They're trying to revive him now. The driver just called ahead for a helicopter to meet them in an abandoned farm field up ahead. Get the others to the hospital as soon as you can…I don't know how much longer he is going to hold on. And that's if they get him resuscitated," Rossi stated as he clutched Reid's hand after each revitalizing shock, hoping to impart some of his strength to the young man that definitely needed it.

* * *

Moments after Lou had taken off again, Morgan was forcing himself up off the ground. Realizing that this could be the moment where Agent Pierce gets away Morgan shouted for Hotch. "Hotch! He's getting away!" Morgan yelled hoping his boss was somewhere in the vicinity. Not receiving an answer Morgan started to race onwards, headless of the pain, in the direction that Lou had fled.

Mentally encouraging himself to catch up with Agent Pierce, Morgan turned up his speed. He was kicking up dead foliage and mud with his churning steps. Eventually, Morgan began to close the distance between Lou and him. Over the headpiece he could hear Hotch say, "Morgan I'm coming. I just got to the car. Which direction did you take?"

"We're headed north. My footsteps should be pretty clear, follow them."

In the next few moments Morgan decided to forego the use of his firearm and take down this cretin the old-fashioned way. So that caused Morgan, no stranger to football, to wait for the right moment to tackle Lou once again.

Fortunately, he could tell the Lou was beginning to lose his second wind, and Morgan was more than ready to take advantage of it. Not one to waste an opportunity, Morgan launched his body through the air and wrapped his arms around Lou's knees. The action successfully halted Lou's escape and gave Morgan a sense of satisfaction.

"No much of an athlete are ya?" Morgan taunted as he removed Lou's firearm from its holster. "Perhaps you'll get a chance to work out while you're in the prison yard."

Morgan positioned himself on Agent Pierce's legs in order to keep control over his captive. Realizing that his prisoner was acting awfully subdued, he quickly cuffed him.

"Got nothing to say, do ya asshole?" Morgan couldn't help but antagonize.

Hotch ran up moments later and quietly took in the situation. "Are you alright?" he asked his agent.

"Wonderful," Morgan responded giving Hotch a self-satisfied smirk.

"Alright, let's get him up," Hotch instructed.

Morgan went to pull up the captive and noticed that Agent Pierce wasn't responding to any nudging. "Don't play that game with me Pierce," Morgan said trying to get a response out of Lou.

"Morgan, what did you do to him?" Hotch said noticing the listlessness of the man beneath him.

"Nothing, Hotch. I just tackled him and cuffed him. That's it!" Morgan said defending himself.

Hotch went around to assist Morgan in getting Pierce up while calling on the headset for an ambulance. When the agents looked at the man they were helping up from the forest floor they saw the reason for his unresponsiveness. After all of the ruckus that Lou had caused, his ending came via Mother Nature and not another human being. There rammed straight into his throat was a rogue twig about an inch thick, broken off of a black walnut tree. It was a one in a million shot, and Lou was lucky enough to be that one.

Morgan and Hotch looked at one another and neither could suppress a hint of a smile.


	14. One Final Choice

**Disclaimer: This show is owned by someone other than me.**

**This is it my friends. The chapter is extra long cleaning up all the loose ends. I have totally made up all of the medical stuff, so please don massacre me if it's wrong. Also please forgive any mistakes, I'm my own editor and I just don't catch everything. I really hope you enjoyed the story and THANK YOU for reading, reviewing, adding, and encouraging me with your comments.**

**Without further ado: Enjoy!**

* * *

The waiting room was silent. There wasn't even that supposedly soothing music playing at a murmur to help calm the family and friends of patients. David Rossi found himself all alone in the suffocating silence. With nothing to focus on he found his brain began recollecting the disturbing memories from the trip here.

He couldn't help but recall the first time that Spencer had coded in the ambulance. The EMTs had rapidly stripped the young man of his shirt and came upon the bomb vest. Rossi, having forgotten about it in the rush to save the younger agent, reminded them that it was harmless. The EMTs worked on unbuckling the straps that held the Reid in its stranglehold and tried to peel it off. They needed to clear a spot to put the paddles and the vest was in the way. Once all of the buckles were undone the EMTs had tried to remove it but the bottom part was not budging. Confused, the female attendant lifted up the vest and gasped.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you getting rid of it?" Rossi inquired with worry. They needed to move fast, the longer Reid was coding the larger the possibility of brain damage.

"It seems to be stuck around his midsection. It looks like some sort of metal hooks or fasteners are connecting the vest to his body. If we try to take off the vest here than we'll rip his skin open which would cause even more issues," she explained to Rossi and her partner.

"Okay, we're going to have to use the defibrillator electrodes and place them under the vest. Pull the top part of it down as far as you can and then place the electrodes. Tell me when you're ready," the male EMT said.

Rossi had decided at that moment to make the call to his teammates and update them on Reid's dire situation. He hated hearing the worry in JJ's voice, but it was not unfounded. It was moments after he ended the call that the techs were successful in reviving the doctor. Rossi grasped his hand again, after the last life-giving shock had been delivered and started talking to Reid hoping the young one could hear him.

After they arrived at the helicopter rendezvous point they wasted no time in loading up the agent and taking off. At first they tried to discourage Rossi from getting in the helicopter, but the older agent wasn't having it.

"He needs to have someone with him that he knows. If he wakes up he is going to be disoriented and in need of a familiar face. I will not abandon him like that!" Rossi said in a no-nonsense voice and climbed in the helicopter heedless of the technicians' protests.

The ride to the hospital was about fifteen minutes but it felt like a lifetime. Reid managed to code two more times on the way, and each time it took them longer to bring him back. The wound in his abdomen was proving tricky to treat, and it didn't want to stop bleeding. The EMTs were successful in putting in an IV and they were doing their best to get some liquids into the boy's body.

When they finally landed on the roof of the hospital there was a multitude of nurses and doctors awaiting their arrival. The unloading was a blur to Rossi and all he could recall was a kind nurse escorting him to where he found himself now, a lonely quiet waiting room.

Rossi had been perched in his current seat for over two hours awaiting news and the arrival of the others, even Garcia. He had memorized the pattern in the carpet underneath his feet and by now the coffee stain on the floor began to take the form of different shapes like a cumulus cloud on a sunny day. He could swear that the stain looked like magnifying glass for one minute and a coffee mug the next. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Rossi looked at the door for the thousandth time in the last two hours, hoping against hope that a doctor would come in to update him on Reid.

As he looked up for the thousand and one time he saw his teammates on the other side with a nurse escort of their own. She opened the door for them and they all filed into the room. It took less than a second for them to pounce on Rossi and attack him with their questions. Rossi had to hold up his hands in surrender and say, "I can't hear you when you are all talking at once. Settle down and I'll tell you what I know so far."

"Settle down? How are we supposed to settle down when we don't even know how Reid is doing?" Morgan asked frantically as he began to pace the small waiting room.

"Morgan, panicking isn't going to help Reid. Just try to bring it down a notch and let Rossi tell us what is going on," Hotch ordered, even though anyone could tell that he was just as concerned about his agent as Morgan.

"First of all, no one has been in to update me since we landed. Reid was a mess and I'm not surprised that it is taking so long. In fact, I am taking it as good new that I haven't heard anything because that means he is still alive and they are still trying to fix him. So let's keep in mind that the lack of news is good. The bad news is that he coded three times on the way here, once in the ambulance and twice in the helicopter. It took longer to bring him back each time. They tried to control the abdominal bleeding but it was proving difficult to staunch. They didn't get to focus on any of the other injuries due to the abdomen proving to be so difficult," Rossi explained in a clear and controlled voice. He had had plenty of time to get his emotions under control and didn't think that allowing emotion to cloud his debriefing would be beneficial. "Uh, the other thing that I wanted to let you guys know about is that the bomb vest was attached to Reid."

"What do you mean attached?" Blake asked.

"Well, when he started to arrest the first time they needed to clear a place for the paddles to go. So they started taking the bomb vest off. It was going fine until they tried to remove it from his body. It was catching on something so the EMT took a closer look. It turned out that it was literally attached to his skin by some sort of metallic fasteners. If they tried to take the vest fully off of him than they would have ripped gouges into his skin and made his situation entirely worse. They had to settle for using electrodes to shock him instead of the paddles. When he was wheeled away he still had the vest on, and I sent in a bomb technician to retrieve the vest when it was safely removed," Rossi clarified for the team, knowing that this added information wasn't going to help the mood in the room very much.

Looking at his fellow profilers he saw all sorts of grief being displayed in their faces and actions. Each profiler exposed their worry in their own unique way. Hotch was as stoic as always but if you looked deep in his eyes you could see the worry consuming them. JJ was not as hard to read, especially with her fearful tears streaming down her face accompanied by little sobs. Blake was similar to Hotch in the sense that her facial expression remained stoic, but her tell was the way she wrapped random strands of hair around her index finger over and over again. Morgan continued pacing back and forth likely to worry a path in the carpet. The formidable agent also made a show of continually pounding his right fist into his left hand; it was almost as if he was imagining beating Lou up for all the abuse he put Reid through.

It was Hotch that interrupted everyone out of their thoughts. "Dave, what happened after Morgan and I left?"

"When the EMTs came in and flipped him over they found the abdominal wound. Reid woke up moments after they started wheeling him out. He wasn't really lucid and had a hard time getting any words out. He did manage to say something about Lou having a son, but I'm not sure why he was concerned about that. Blake called Garcia to have her look into it, but I'm not sure what she found," Rossi finished.

"Well, I can tell you for certain that Agent Pierce does not have a son. So whatever it was Reid was referring to it was not a biological or adopted child. I even dug a little deeper and there is no mention anywhere of Agent Pierce being associated with any children. I guess we're going to have to wait for him to wake up to get the full explanation," Garcia said as she made her way into the waiting room, overhearing Rossi's comments as she entered.

Everyone perked up a bit seeing the sparkly tech analyst enter the room. It didn't matter what the situation was, having Garcia's presence in the room always made everyone feel a little bit better. The woman sure knew how to set a more positive tone, even in a potentially sorrowful situation. "So what is going on with my baby? I haven't heard anything since JJ told me he was arresting in the ambulance. So somebody better start spilling," Garcia demanded with a few stray tear threatening to fall from her eyes.

It was Blake that took over the responsibilities of filling Garcia in on what they all know. Rossi was well spent and didn't feel like relieving the experience aloud again.

After that each member of the group found a spot to claim as their own as they sat and worried about the glue that holds them all together.

Another two hours had passed before a doctor finally arrived in the waiting room calling out the name, "Spencer Reid?"

Everyone stood up at the words and directed their attention to the older grandfatherly doctor. He looked like one of those stereotypical doctors you see on T.V. He had receding graying hair, glasses, and a distinguished mustache. His figure was swollen from too many gourmet dinners out accompanied with multiple glasses of wine. The doctor's lab coat was impeccable, leading the agents to believe that he had cleaned up before entering the waiting room. When he spoke his voice was gravely, which hinted at some sort of tobacco habit, probably cigars.

"Yes, we're here for Spencer Reid," Hotch came forth as the voice of authority for the team.

"I'm looking for an Aaron Hotchner, he is listed as power of attorney and the only person I am legally allowed to speak to about my patient," the doctor said.

"I am Agent Hotchner. And I am giving you permission to talk in front of all of these people. We're Dr. Reid's family," Hotch told the doctor.

The doctor raised his eyebrows at the revelation that they were all legitimately Reid's family, but didn't comment on it. "Well, I'm Doctor Allen and I was the lead on Dr. Reid's surgery team. Do you want to sit down before I go over his condition?" the doctor asked before he launched into the long list of injuries that Reid had incurred. Noticing that none of the people in the room were interested in getting comfortable he launched right into reporting out Reid's wounds.

"Alright, well let's start with the most concerning injury, the abdominal stab wound. The wound was made by some sort of large knife, more than likely a butcher's knife. While the knife was large the wound was not as deep as it needed to be to prove to be fatal, especially since he was found quickly after it was inflicted. I can say though that he would have eventually bled out if he was left alone for a much longer period of time, but your speedy rescue proved vital to his survival. Dr. Reid did manage to lose quite a bit of blood from the wound as it nicked some of his intestines, but we were able to stitch it up and repair the damage. We're going to be very diligent in making sure that the wounds don't get infected. The last thing his body needs now is to fight an infection. From there, we found that both his wrists and ankles are wounded from various forms or restraints. They are cut up but not to the extent that they needed stitches, and they probably won't scar. We are going to apply creams to them at least twice a day and keep them wrapped up for a little while. Now his right wrist is a bit of a concern. At some point he fractured it and it was never treated properly. We casted it to be safe and we will check on it in a week to see how it's healing. Hopefully he will be able to get away with a wrist brace for a few months until it fully heals," the doctor paused in his soliloquy to take a few deep breaths and look at the agents. He decided to plow on before they tried to ask questions.

"We found something quite disturbing while we were in the operating room, your agent's backside and legs were covered in bruises, welts, and cuts. It looks like at some point he was flogged with a belt. The wounds were clearly not treated and they have become infected. As a result Dr. Reid is running a fever and we have administered some antibiotics to combat the infection. We also had to stitch some of them up due to how deep the cuts were and those wounds will probably scar. Dr. Reid is also suffering from a mild concussion. At some point he took multiple blows to the head and he will probably be feeling a bit disoriented when he wakes up. He will have difficulty getting his thoughts together and stringing together coherent words. He is also suffering from dehydration and malnutrition. We have hooked him up to an IV to deliver him the fluids and vitamins he needs. Lastly, there are multiple bruises present all over his body that will just require time to heal," again the doctor paused to collect his thoughts. This was one of the lengthiest lists of injuries he had ever had to cover with a patient's family.

"Oh, one other thing, we had a very difficult time removing the bomb vest. It turns out that whoever put that vest together definitely had a mean streak. When we went to take it off we found that it was stuck on your agent via barbed hooks. There was no easy way of getting it off so we had to get some cutters and first clip the exposed metal all around his mid-section, leaving in the hooks. Since the hooks were spread all around his body we had to have some nurses hold him up so the ones in his back wouldn't get push all the way into his body. It took a while to remove each one and we had to enlarge each entry wound in order to get the hook out without tearing a larger hole than necessary. He has ten of these wounds scattered at even intervals around his mid-section. Each one required stitches and they probably will scar too. Just when we thought we were done we noticed what looked like burn marks in various locations underneath where the vest was situated. It seems that the vest was also capable of delivering electric shocks to your agent, and whoever was in control of it didn't hesitate to utilize that tool. We put some burn cream on the wounds and covered them up, but we are going to need to do a few tests to see if there are any adverse effects to the shocks that he received," Doctor Allen stopped his report and looked to the agents signaling that he was done with his description of Reid's injuries.

"Wow," was all that came out of Morgan as he finally paused in his pacing.

Everyone else was silent and contemplating how their friend was able to endure so much over the past few days. JJ and Garcia, as emotional as always, both had stray tears falling expressing their sorrow for their friend. Blake was more composed but she had moved on to fidgeting with her fingers trying to understand why she never bothered to investigate what was wrong with her friend. Perhaps if she had done more snooping or prodding into Reid's life she would have been able to help him.

Rossi was the first to ask, "So what does this mean for recovery? Are we going to be able to see him?"

Dr. Allen, realizing that he had left this part out of his report immediately rectified that mistake, "Right now he is in recovery and unable to receive visitors. A nurse will come and get you when he is moved into his own private room. As for recovery, Dr. Reid is going to be asleep for some time. His body is exhausted physically and emotionally and needs time to recuperate. I can't give you a good estimate on when to expect him to wake up, it's really up to him now. It could be a few hours or days before he decides to grace us with his presence. We are going to keep him comfortable on a low dose of morphine. I know that his medical files say no narcotics, but it is necessary we give him some to reduce the stress on his body. When he wakes up we will discuss other pain management alternatives. Agents, Dr. Reid is not out of the woods yet, but it's important that you keep a positive attitude at all times. The fact that we were able to treat his wounds and keep him here with us is definitely a step in the right direction. We just need to make sure that we get that infection under control and bring that fever down. Once that happens we will be in more positive territory."

It seemed like a collective sigh of relief flowed through the agents. Their friend had made it through the toughest part and the doctors and nurses would do their best to push him further along in his recovery. The doctor had taken his leave of the room by the time the agents sat down again. There was an unspoken agreement that no one was leaving until they all got to see Reid with their own eyes. So together they sat and reminisced about all the crazy situations Reid had gotten himself into over the last few years, hoping to pass the time until they were called back to see him.

* * *

The darkness was absolute. But this darkness wasn't scary, it was peaceful and comforting. It felt like a warm fuzzy blanket that your mom would wrap you up in when you had the flu. For once in his life Reid embraced the absence of light and allowed his mind to drift. He wasn't sure where he was and what had brought him hear, but he wanted to stick around for a while. After all of the trauma he had experienced over the last few days it felt nice to just enjoy this painless existence.

Off in the distance he thought he heard some faint voices. He couldn't make out who they were or what they were saying and it worried him a bit. What if he hadn't gotten free? What if he was still strapped to that bed and the darkness was a result of the blindfold? But that couldn't be true; he would still be in pain.

As he thought about it even more he realized that he couldn't feel the constricting vest wrapped around his chest either. It didn't matter that he had worn it for a few days, he never got used to the way the vest felt on his body. It had felt like it was tightening with every breath he took and the hooks were constantly pushing and pulling into his skin. No, he was sure that the explosive device was gone.

Shouldn't he be feeling some pain? Even if he was somewhere safe, it didn't mean that all of his wounds had magically healed. Worry started to overtake him as he considered the possibility that he was being drugged. He didn't want to be exposed to any narcotics for fear of relapsing into his former drug habit.

Suddenly, he felt a gentle touch on his hand. As he focused his concentration into the darkness he began to understand the words that were being whispered into his ear.

"It's okay Reid. We're all here for you now. You are safe. Just come back to us soon. We can't wait to see those big brown eyes again," the voice said as it massaged his hand.

He wanted to respond badly, but the words just wouldn't leave his mouth. Regardless, the voice had done an excellent job of convincing him that he wouldn't be harmed anymore. Finally being free from worry and fear he allowed his consciousness to drift away again to get the much needed rest he had been denied by his captors.

* * *

Most of the team had headed home after waiting in Reid's room for a few hours. The young man never woke up, but at one point they thought he was close when his heart monitor sped up. When they noticed the increase in his heart beat Garcia commandeered Reid's hand and whispered some soothing words in his ears. The monitor slowly went back to its normal rhythm and hadn't changed since then.

Morgan chose to stay by his friend's side, determined that whenever he decided to grace the world with his presence again he would see a friendly face there to welcome him back. He was sitting at the head of the bed with his feet propped up on an alternate chair, getting as comfortable as possible in the hospital furniture. He decided to maintain contact with Reid by covering his friends hand with his own. He wanted to impart some comfort to Reid on a subconscious level, and reassure himself that his friend was truly recovering.

It was because of that hand that Morgan was tipped off to his friend waking up. He felt a small twitch flow through Reid's pinky finger and it was accompanied by a change in Reid's heart rate. Shortly thereafter a slight moan issued forth from Reid's lips.

"Hey kid, wake up for me," Morgan encouraged his best friend. He began to rub circles on the back of Reid's hand with his thumb.

Reid's eyes peeled open slowly and did not react well to the light in the room. It took a few moments for the young genius to adjust, and when he did he turned his head to look down at his hand. Confusion dominated his expression for a moment, but then the realization of whose hand was rubbing his own shined through his expression.

"M-Morgan?" was the first word that came out of his mouth since he had been carted away into the ambulance.

"Yeah Reid. It's me. All the others were here but they went to a hotel to freshen up and catch a few z's."

Reid's face fell a little and he nodded his understanding. "What happened?"

"Well, what do you remember?"

"I remember Lou stabbing me in the stomach and then leaving me to die. Did you find me? I think I remember talking to you…," Reid trailed of trying to scour his memory for detail.

"Yeah, we talked. You didn't really say much because you had lost a lot of blood by then. But you did tell me that Agent Pierce had just left. That's when Hotch and I went after him and left you in the care of Rossi, JJ, and Blake. They got you to the ambulance and now you're here," Morgan said leaving out the details of Reid's journey to the hospital. He wasn't sure if Reid was ready to hear about coding three times and the endless list of injuries he had incurred.

"What happened to Lou?" Reid asked as he tried to adjust his position on the bed. He didn't like laying down flat and having to look up at people. It really made him feel childlike, which was a big issue being the youngest on the team. As a result of his movements he flared up some of his injuries and let out a small whimper in pain.

"Hey kid, just relax. Do you want me to angle the bed up a bit?" Morgan asked when he heard the whimper of pain.

Reid just nodded his head, not being able to get the words out while dealing with the pain.

Morgan moved the head of the bed to a 45 degree angle and answered Reid's question, "Well, Hotch and I had quite a run through the woods trying to catch Agent Pierce. He had a getaway car waiting for him about two miles from the cabin and that's where he sprinted off to. Hotch tripped in the middle of the run and I had to go on without him. Eventually I caught up with Lou at his car. Luckily it wasn't working and I was able to tackle him onto the car hood. He nailed me with a kidney punch and got away though," Morgan said noticing the worry in Reid's eyes. "Don't worry. He took off again, but he was getting winded which made it easier for me to catch up to him. I tackled him to the ground and cuffed him. Hotch arrived shortly after and helped me get him up off the ground. The thing is…Lou was dead. It was crazy Reid! He managed to fall right on a twig that was sticking straight up in the dirt and it lodged itself so deep into his throat it damaged his carotid artery. He bled out on the ground beneath me and I never even knew it."

Reid was silent for a few minutes after Morgan got done telling his story. He wasn't sure how he felt. It's not right to be happy when a human life is taken away, but after everything Lou put him through he couldn't help but think it was his just deserts. Then again, Lou got off a little easy not having to take responsibility for his crimes and receiving the punishment that was due his actions.

Wait a minute…Lou was dead. God, now he was left all alone with the responsibility of telling Rossi that Lou was his son. Reid wasn't looking forward to that conversation and hoped to put it off as long as he could.

"I'm tired," Reid sighed after he was done contemplating Morgan's story.

"Go back to sleep, kid. One of us will be here when you wake up," Morgan said to the exhausted agent.

* * *

The next time Reid woke up Rossi was sitting in the chair next to him reading a newspaper. It looked sunny outside and a glance at the clock on the wall revealed that it was nearing noon.

"Well hello, Agent Reid," Rossi said as formal as ever after noticing that the patient had woken up. He put down his paper and sipped on a coffee that was sitting on a nearby table.

"Hi," Reid said taking care to avoid Rossi's eyes.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, knowing what a stupid question it really was to ask someone with so many injuries.

"I feel fine," Reid answered as he analyzed his casted wrist.

"Sure you do…" Rossi said as he watched the young man as he clearly tried to avoid engaging the older man in conversation.

"Reid…I can see the wheels turning. What are you thinking?" Rossi asked trying to jar the kid out of his funk.

"Nothing," Reid said. Rossi was not the one that he wanted to be waking up to yet. He felt so guilty for trying to frame the man. If only he had been faster on his feet and quicker with his wit than none of this would have ever happened. How could the man next to him even stand to look at him, let alone want to be here as a comfort?

Sensing he knew what was bothering the young man Rossi decided to nip the issue in the bud, "Reid, I'm not mad at you for anything that happened."

Reid looked up and internally swore. Sometimes it really sucked to work with profilers. "How can you even look at me after what I tried to do to you?" Reid whispered to the veteran profiler.

"Reid, you did what you had to do under duress. None of it was your choice. I know that you would never intentionally harm me or anyone else. In fact, I'm impressed with how well you were able to hold yourself together wearing that monstrosity for the last few days. And don't think that I didn't notice those clues you tried to give me during our conversation the other day," Rossi said trying to make the boy realize that he was holding no animosity against him.

"I tried the best I could to impede their plans, but they had everything thought out and covered," Reid responded feeling a bit better after hearing Rossi's words.

"I was wondering about that. Why didn't you ever just tell us in the round table room or in a private office?"

Reid licked his lips and responded, "They installed a microphone in the vest and could hear every word we were saying. And I couldn't even try to write a note because they installed a camera in a tie tack that I had to wear every day. There was no way to tell you guys without them knowing. They also told me that if you guys found out about the plot they would detonate the bomb instantly, killing us all. I couldn't let that happen."

"Why didn't you just let them get out of the elevator first, tackle them to the ground, and yell for help at the top of your lungs? They wouldn't have blown the vest because they would have been killed too," Rossi asked.

Reid's eyes grew wide with the realization that that plan could have actually worked. He felt himself flush with embarrassment at his inability to devise an escape that should have been common sense. He could have prevented Anderson's death if he had just thought about escaping a little bit more.

Rossi seeing the humiliation rolling through Reid's face tried to calm him down, "Hey now, don't worry about it. You were under a ton of stress. It's no wonder that you didn't come up with that. Your mind was more concerned with keeping us safe."

"But if I had just thought of that then Anderson would still be with us today," Reid practically sobbed feeling endless guilt overwhelm him yet again.

"You don't know that Reid. None of us can say what might have been. What matters is that we honor Anderson's memory and remain thankful that the needless killing has stopped."

"I suppose," was all Reid would say sniffling and clearly not convinced.

"Reid, I have one more question for you before you get back to relaxing. When we were wheeling you out to the ambulance you said 'Lou's child.' What did you mean by that? Lou has no children that we could find," Rossi asked hoping to gain some insight on what the young man meant.

Again Reid had to prepare himself to answer and was worried about Rossi's reaction. "Well…um…when Lou was chaining me to the bed I realized that this whole plot couldn't have just been about money. I said as much to him and asked him the real reason he was trying to kill me and damage you."

"Okay…" Rossi said not wanting to interrupt the kid's explanation.

"Well, he told me it was because of what he and I had in common. Apparently, we were both abandoned by our fathers. He said that his father had never been around and blew his mother off completely. He never got to meet him and he never even tried to be in his life," Reid took a deep breath before revealing the final part of the story. "Rossi, he claimed that you were his father."

Rossi was speechless. He scrutinized Reid's face to see if the kid was joking, but who was he kidding Reid didn't know how to joke.

"What?"

"Um…yeah. Lou said that his mother was a witness to some case a long time ago and that you two had relations. Evidently your night of fun resulted in a child. His mother tried to contact you but you never returned the calls, because of that he grew up without a father. He didn't find out your identity until after his mother died. He found her diary and she had written all about you. She even kept up with you over the years, and cut out news clippings and such. When he found out about you he decided to join the FBI to get closer to you. He was looking for the right time to confront you but it never came. Lou became frustrated when you turned down his business plan, and started getting jealous of the attention you gave me," Reid explained slowly having to take sporadic breaks throughout the story to catch his breath.

"So that's why he decided to frame me? Huh…well I'm sorry you got dragged into this Reid. Especially since Lou was wrong," Rossi said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Reid queried incredulously.

"Reid, I know that I'm a man known for my past interactions with the ladies at work, but that's just it. All of my past discretions were with coworkers. I've never crossed that professional boundary and messed with a witness. His mother lied; perhaps she was even a bit delusional. I promise you though; I have never fathered a child. And if I did I would have never abandoned it. Look, I'll get a DNA test done to prove it, but I'm telling you there is no way that Lou is my son," Rossi said without a hint of worry that he was wrong.

"I believe you Rossi. Actually, I'm relieved. I don't know if I would have been able to look at you the same knowing that you left a child fatherless out there in this cold cruel world," Reid said finally looking Rossi in the eye.

"Well kid, let's be glad you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Knock knock!" came an excited voice from the doorway.

Both profilers looked up to see the rest of the team standing in the threshold. They all poured in and started professing their happiness to see Reid awake and aware. Before Reid knew it the conversation was steered to happier topics and he was inundated with baked goods courtesy of Garcia.

Half way through the reunion a nurse came in with Reid's lunch. She lifted the cloche and revealed a hideous hospital meatloaf that made Reid cringe in response. Even more disappointing than the appearance of his lunch was its lack of dessert.

"Reid, why the frown?" Blake asked.

"There's no dessert."

"Oh don't worry Dr. Reid. I've got some dessert right here," the nurse called in the room. "I was just going to give you a choice of flavor, orange Jell-O or strawberry?"

Reid let a big smile breakout on his face, confident that this was one choice he wouldn't have a problem making, "Strawberry."


End file.
